The UCZ Data Jam was designed so that educators (formal and informal) of any subject can get their students involved in the Data Jam.
You (the educator/advisor) have the option to:
- Enter your students in the regional UCZ Data Jam competition
or - Use the UCZ Data Jam as a self-contained project within your own classroom.
Whichever adventure you choose, we hope you find the resources presented useful and informative as you guide your students on their data exploration adventures.
Whether your students focus on historical trends, scientific poetry, or creative mathematical visualizations, we want to support you and your students throughout this competition!
We've gathered the following resources to help you on your journey.
- Data Jam Essentials is an overview of the contest and complete contest information.
- We have a special “advisors-only” Google Drive Folder with sample graphs for most of the datasets. Please email us to receive access.
- We asked veteran Data Jam coaches to share their advice. Read their tips on how to Jam.
- We will be hosting a three-part webinar series designed to support you and your students as they embark on their Data Jam journey. If you are unable to attend a scheduled webinar, a recorded version will be linked below. Additionally, you may find recorded webinars from our sister Data Jam–the Hudson Data Jam–useful.
- UCZ Webinar #1: Working with data & introduction to CODAP (Recording available March 10)
- UCZ Webinar #2: Data analysis & visualization (Recording available March 17)
- UCZ Webinar #3: Effective communication of a data story (Recording available March 24)
Additional resources
These worksheets and lessons may help students work through understanding Data Jam, getting to know their datasets, and graphing their data.
Data support
- Getting to Know your Dataset: This student-facing worksheet guides a student through getting to know their dataset, from prior knowledge to understanding the metadata to graphing the data and analyzing the graph.
- Graph Choice Chart: This paper from the November 2014 issue of The Science Teacher is a great teacher-facing resource, which includes a chart that helps students choose the best type of graph for their particular science question.
- Student Planning Sheet: This planning tool can help your classes break Data Jam down into small digestible steps with concrete deadlines.
- UCZ Data Lessons: We have also developed a Data Lesson that corresponds to each available Data Jam dataset. While we do not recommend allowing your students to have access to these lesson plans, they may be useful for you as you prepare to support your students’ data exploration.
- Introduction to the Critical Zone (not associated with a dataset)
- Chloride in the Pennypack (uses "Anions in the Pennypack" dataset)
- Greenhouse Gases in Dead Run
- Stream Chemistry Across the Fall Zone
- Guided-Inquiry Graphing Puzzles: From our sister Data Jam, this activity will give your students practice interpreting unusual Hudson River phenomena from the HRECOS ecological monitoring system. These puzzles were developed and graciously shared by Steve Stanne, Education Coordinator of the Hudson River Estuary Program.
Artistic support
As with any internet resource, it is always recommended that the adviser reviews materials before sharing them with students.
Need data visualization inspiration? Check out these scientist-artists who incorporate data stories in creative ways.
- Jill Pelto - Jill's art focuses on climate change; she utilizes color pencil.
- Dear Data - "Dear Data is a year-long, analog data drawing project by Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec, two award-winning information designers living on different sides of the Atlantic."
Apps
- Krita - This is a free, open-source downloadable app which allows students to create digital masterpieces.
- Procreate - This is a paid app for digital painting, drawing, & animation.
- Canva - This app is especially great for infographics and other visual content.
YouTube
- Science Filmmaking: Tips & Tricks: The stop-motion video on this YouTube channel is great!
- Proko - YouTube videos for how to develop sketching skills
- Art Assignment - Engaging episodes about art and history that can spark creativity!
- Crash Course - These aren't how-to videos, but these educational videos are good models for excellent communication and creativity.
Don't hesitate to reach out (hooda@caryinstitute.org) with any questions that you or your students have about the competition or the individual datasets. Since most of the data were collected by Cary scientists, we can forward your questions to the appropriate person to get your students the most helpful answers about the science.
Finally, if you are using an amazing resource that isn't listed above, please share it with us via email so we can add it. We welcome your contributions to build and strengthen the Data Jam community!