Recording Scientific Data

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Picture a scientist out in a field.

This scientist is looking for mice. His job is to count how many field mice he sees each day. How do you think he remembers? What can he do to keep track of how many mice he sees each day? With the help of your parent or teacher, work together to come up with an idea on how he can record data (facts) about how many field mice he sees each day.

There are many ways the scientist can collect data about the field mice, but some ways work better than others. Take a look at some examples of things he could do to record his data:

• He could bring a journal and write down how many mice he sees each day.
• He could photograph each mouse he sees.
• He could draw each mouse he sees.
• He could video record every mouse he sees.

The easiest way he could collect data is to keep tallies of each mouse he sees. He could use these tallies to make a graph showing how many mice he saw each day. This would be the easiest to read and learn from.

Scientists know how important it is to collect data (information). Think about a time you collected data. What did you learn about? How did you keep your data? Share your story with your parent or teacher.

Pretend you are tracking the weather where you live. Your job is to wake up each morning and see what the weather is like for a week. What is one way you could keep track of your data? Tell your parent or teacher.

Here are some ways you could collect data about the weather:

• You could draw a picture of the weather each morning.
• You could write about the weather every morning.
• You could video record the weather each morning.
• You could photograph the weather every morning.

There are so many fun ways to collect data. Did you choose any of the examples above?

Great! Are you ready to start collecting data? In the Got It? section, you will collect data.