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The Promise and Practice of Teaching Data Literacy in Social Studies: A Companion Site Main Menu A Taxonomy of Data Visualizations Information can be visualized in multiple ways, from bar graphs to scatterplots, choropleth maps to distribution maps, timelines to time series. Designers can choose from an array of graphical elements such as points, lines, or icons used to represent data, and multiple aesthetic attributes such as color, shape, and size. Furthermore, designers can apply multiple combinations of titles, legends, and explanatory text to provide context for a data visualization. Given the almost dizzying array of data visualizations students may encounter in social studies, it is helpful to place them in categories related to the types of questions they will help us answer. Data Visualizations as Primary Sources Humans have been creating different types of data visualizations for centuries. Explore this collection of timelines, maps, graphs and charts to see what they reveal about the historical time and place in which they were produced. How do students learn with data visualizations? Reading data visualizations in print and online social studies texts can improve students' overall comprehension and quality of reasoning. And there is evidence to suggest that reading data visualizations helps students better understand historical and geographic context, multiple causation, and change over time — all important concepts for students to grasp in social studies subject areas. However, students may face significant challenges in trying to make sense of different kinds of data visualizations. This section provides insight into both benefits and challenges of reading timelines, maps, and graphs and charts. How should students analyze data visualizations in social studies? The challenges that data visualizations present, coupled with their prevalence in social studies texts, standardized assessments, in online social studies resources, and as sources of information in society, suggest that teaching with and about data visualizations in social studies is essential. This module provides guidance for how teachers can support students' data literacy for social studies. How do I help students create and integrate data visualizations for social studies? This page highlights several tools that are useful for data-based projects in social studies. And accompanying each tool is a "minimal manual" that provides guidance for using the tool in social studies inquiry- and project-based learning. Project-Based Learning Activities for Data Literacy in Social Studies Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, nec constituto comprehensam te. Sea no affert nemore comprehensam, eum te purto soleat accusata. Ea est magna malis. No atqui iudico est. In vel propriae suavitate. Est homero timeam cu, novum persecuti mea an. Index of Lesson Plans This page contains a list of the minimal manuals and lessons found on this website. Minimal manuals are designed to be adapted to different grade levels and do not have a grade designation associated with them. Lesson plans are organized according to the school level for which they are designed. However, many of these lessons can be adapted for different grade levels.

Datasets for Teaching about Data and Data Visualizations in Social Studies

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Poverty Threshold

Full Source: https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2020/demo/p60-270.html (Poverty Thresholds: 2019)
Relevant Standards from the Michigan Standards (grade or course, code, and written standard): P3.1.2 Use graphic data and other sources to analyze information about a public issue in the United States and evaluate alternative resolutions.
Where did this data come from? Who gathered it and for what purpose? This report presents data on poverty in the United States based on information collected in the 2020 and earlier Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplements (CPS ASEC) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The data set was collecetd to understand the current state of poverty in the United States among different family sizes.
How did you scrub it? What did you change and why? We removed the age-related factors so that the focus could remain solely on U.S. poverty thresholds based on family size.
How might teachers use this in the classroom to meet standards and help students develop data literacy skills? Teachers can use this data to teach students about the average income that constitues poverty across the United States. Students can develop data visulizations to see how different family sizes affect their respective poverty threshold.

Battle Related Deaths in State Based Conflicts by World Region

Full Source: https://ourworldindata.org/war-and-peace (War and Peace After 1945)
Relevant Standards from the Michigan Standards (grade or course, code, and written standard): 7.1.2 Global Conflict – compare and contrast the nature, extent, and impact of modern warfare with warfare in the previous eras, including the roles of ideology, technology, and civilians.
Where did this data come from? Who gathered it and for what purpose? The data set was compiled by Our World in Data. The data was gathered to showcase that the absolute number of war deaths has been declining since 1946.
How did you scrub it? What did you change and why? We scrubbed the data to include number of battle-related deaths per decade from 1950-2010 in each of the world continents/regions. We did this so that the data could be more easily used to see changes in global battle deaths per year by world region.
How might teachers use this in the classroom to meet standards and help students develop data literacy skills? Teachers can use this data set to teach students about how the world has chnaged since WW2 and that the number of deaths from battles/wars fought since then are declining. Students should be able to seen the pattern by creating data visulizations for each world region.

Number of Nuclear Warheads in the Inventory of the Nuclear Powers

Full Source: https://ourworldindata.org/nuclear-weapons (Stockpiles of nuclear weapons)
Relevant Standards from the Michigan Standards (grade or course, code, and written standard): 7.1.2 Global Conflict – compare and contrast the nature, extent, and impact of modern warfare with warfare in the previous eras, including the roles of ideology, technology, and civilians.
Where did this data come from? Who gathered it and for what purpose? The data set was compiled by Our World in Data. The data was gathered to quantify the proliferation of nuclear weapons based on stockpiles countries have.
How did you scrub it? What did you change and why? We scrubbed the data to include number of nuclear warheads per decade from 1945-2014 for each nuclear power. We did this so that the data could be more easily used to see changes in nuclear warhead accumulation or dissipation for each country.
How might teachers use this in the classroom to meet standards and help students develop data literacy skills? Teachers can use this data set to teach students about the use of nuclear technology in warfare and how it has affected the global landscape. Students can create data visualizations such as a chart to see which countries have the most nuclear weapons and how that has changed over time.

Map of Genocide and Politicide Deaths Around the World

Full Source: https://ourworldindata.org/genocides (The Magnitude of Genocides)
Relevant Standards from the Michigan Standards (grade or course, code, and written standard): 7.1.3 Genocide in the 20th Century – differentiate genocide from other atrocities and forms of mass killing and explain its extent, causes, and consequences in the 20th century and to the present.
Where did this data come from? Who gathered it and for what purpose? The data set was compiled by Our World in Data. The data was gathered to showcase the magnitude of the total genocide or politicide deaths between 1955-2014.
How did you scrub it? What did you change and why? We did not make any changes to this data set since the information provided was concise. However, for clarity, we added a table below the data that explains the meaning behind the Death magnitude values on the table.
How might teachers use this in the classroom to meet standards and help students develop data literacy skills? Teachers can use this data set to teach students about genocidal events that have occurred since WW2 (1950-2014). Students can create data visualizations such as maps to learn about which countries among the selected pool have the highest deaths due to genocide.

Registered Mobile Money Accounts By Region

Full Source: https://ourworldindata.org/technology-adoption (Mobile money accounts by region)
Relevant Standards from the Michigan Standards (grade or course, code, and written standard): 7.1.4 Technological, Scientific, and Cultural Exchanges – describe significant technological innovations and scientific breakthroughs in transportation, communication, medicine, and warfare and analyze how they both benefited and imperiled humanity.
Where did this data come from? Who gathered it and for what purpose? The data set was compiled by Our World in Data. The data showcases registered mobile money accounts by world region from 2011 to 2018.
How did you scrub it? What did you change and why? Since the data was already concise and within a short timespan, we decided to keep the data set as is so that there would be enough material for students to create useful data visualizations on worldwide mobile money accounts.
How might teachers use this in the classroom to meet standards and help students develop data literacy skills? Teachers can use the data set in their classroom to teach students how mobile banking technology has spread around the globe and investigate the causations and methods for its dispersal. Teachers can also look at how mobile accounts have changed the way of life in different regions. This data set can be used to create a graphical chart to visualize mobile technology's impact on different world regions.

Age of Democracies

Full Source: https://ourworldindata.org/democracy (Political freedom is a very recent achievement)
Relevant Standards from the Michigan Standards (grade or course, code, and written standard): 7.2.5 Revolution, Decolonization, and Democratization – evaluate the causes and consequences of revolutionary and independence movements in different world regions.
Where did this data come from? Who gathered it and for what purpose? The data set was compiled by Our World in Data. The data showcases the age of each democracies at the end of 2015 as well as the nation-states that are not democracies.
How did you scrub it? What did you change and why? The data was concise and straightforward so we left the data set as it was.
How might teachers use this in the classroom to meet standards and help students develop data literacy skills? Teachers can use this data set in their classroom to teach students that economic success tends to go with political freedom. Students can use the data set to map out countries that are democracies, note which ones have been democracies for the longest and how it correlates to wealth per capita per country.

Projected Race & Hispanic Origin

Full Source: https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/demo/popproj/2017-summary-tables.html (Table 4)
Relevant Standards from the Michigan Standards (grade or course, code, and written standard): 8.2.1 Demographic Changes - use population data to produce and analyze maps
Where did this data come from? Who gathered it and for what purpose? The U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division commissioned the data set for nationwide racial and hispanic origin projections.
How did you scrub it? What did you change and why? We scrubbed the data set to include only population totals and removed the divisions based on gender. We believe this will make it easier for students to understand how the demographics of the nation's population is projected to change as a whole.
How might teachers use this in the classroom to meet standards and help students develop data literacy skills? Teachers can use this data set to explore the country's changing demographics and address the reasons for how and why it is occurring (ex. immigration, increase in elderly population, etc.).

Technology Adoption By Households In The United States

Full Source: https://ourworldindata.org/technology-adoption (Technology adoption in US households)
Relevant Standards from the Michigan Standards (grade or course, code, and written standard): 9.1.1 Economic Changes – using the changing nature of the American automobile industry as a case study, evaluate changes in the American economy created by new markets, natural resources, technologies, corporate structures, international competition, new sources/methods of production, energy issues, and mass communication.
Where did this data come from? Who gathered it and for what purpose? The data set was compiled by Our World in Data. The data showcases the percentage of households in the United States using a particular technology from 1860 to 2019.
How did you scrub it? What did you change and why? Since the start date of technologies differs variously in the given time period, we decided to keep the data set as is so that students can holistically view the technological change over time in the US.
How might teachers use this in the classroom to meet standards and help students develop data literacy skills? Teachers can use the data set to teach students details regarding the rates of diffusion, access and adoption of a range of technologies over time in the United States. Students can create graphs or timelines to view the historical changes in technology in the US.