Math-infused Science: Writing and Speaking About Data (DBQs and FRQs)

(Tu Feb 16, 7-8:30pm Eastern Standard Time)

How do we talk about data? How do we write about data? In this 1.5 hr. workshop you will discover ways to help your student be specific, using the correct terms, in context, as they identify and describe trends in a set of numbers. We will play two games useful for building a working vocabulary and increasing student reliance on mathematically accurate communication. We will touch on formal statements of ‘statistical significance’ as well as informal statements of primary trends, disruptions, and outliers. We will exemplify the connection between evidence and reasoning (CER) in an argument supported with data. The activities used in this workshop are applicable to students at any grade level and can be an introduction to descriptive mathematics for younger students or a repeatable method for answering free response, data-based questions for students taking an AP or IB exam. The techniques taught in this workshop can be utilized in either a remote or in-person classroom.

Although the examples in this workshop will be based in math and science, this 1.5-hour workshop is open to teachers of all grade levels and subject areas.