Version 1.1.2 (Updated Aug 20, 2021)
The Animal Behaviour Society, an international non-profit scientific society that encourages and promotes the professional study of animal behavior.
What is the best way to visualize data?
A Polymath Puzzle challenges students to decode the text parts of a graph, drawing them into a fascinating lesson about storytelling through data visuals.
This lesson teaches students about data visualization (how to read and interpret scatter plots, dot plots, and histograms), and connects to a broader theme of how our assumptions affect our conclusions. Students learn how scientists and birders alike have assumed for decades that most female birds don't sing. As students explore real data from a recent study, they will learn how this assumption could be reinforced by the fact that females sing much less than males, and further, how this biased oversight has limited our understanding of bird research from its very beginnings. See Scientific Background for details.
The lesson will take 3 class periods for most learners. Students dive in with a data literacy puzzle, which we call a “Polymath Puzzle.” Students are given a figure from a current scientific study on barn swallows (a common bird across the world), but with text elements coded with an alphabetic shift (e.g. each letter is shifted: A to B, B to C, and so on). They have to work in teams (or individually) to decipher the messages, and then try to understand the figure. This is a high-level data literacy task that piques students’ natural love of puzzle-solving, while working on GRIT/grappling and the 21st Century Skills (4 Cs). Videos guide students through each stage of the Polymath Puzzle. In Parts 2 and 3, students create and interpret histograms from the same data, allowing for a deeper understanding of the pros and cons of scatter plots and histograms for visualizing data patterns. The culminating task is for students to synthesize the conclusions from the two types of graph, along with additional background information to hypothesize a reason for why female song has been missed until 2020 in this widely studied species.
A brief overview of the lesson, providing broader context from two authors of the study this lesson is based on.
Explains strategies for solving the Polymath Puzzle. This is an engagement hook that blends a simple alphabetic shift puzzle with a data literacy challenge.
Provides scaffolding for understanding how to read this graph (which comes straight from a recent study) and notice patterns.
Explains what this graph is actually about, providing background on female song in barn swallows and the field work employed to study it.
This video highlights the vital importance of data literacy. It asks students to compare two different types of graph and decide which is a better visual for demonstrating the main findings of the study.
This animation was developed to show the logical connections between a dot plot, a binned dot plot, and a histogram. The silly sounds are added for memorability.
This video demonstrates how to count barn swallow songs to generate the data examined.
This video provides extra background context for the lesson. The video is not included in the lesson, but is provided for your background or if you want to use it in some way.
Designed to be led by a non-specialist teacher, in person.
*You will need to be logged into a free Google account and click "Use Template" to add files to your Google Drive.
Part 1 will take a full class period and is broken into 4 time chunks. It uses a “Polymath Puzzle” hook to draw students into carefully studying a scatter plot created from real data. Students then learn about how female song has been missed in barn swallows (a very common bird species).
Presentation
Student Worksheet
Teacher Worksheet
Students learn how to make dot plots and learn how histograms are made by binning data into ranges. This lesson is slightly shorter than the other two parts.
Presentation
Student Worksheet
Teacher Worksheet
Students create a histogram from raw data and use the scatter plot and histogram for reflection and synthesis. They will also synthesize all they have learned about histograms, dot plots, scatter plots, and the barn swallow study to answer big questions about why female song has been missed in this common species and why that matters.
Presentation
Student Worksheet
Teacher Worksheet
Table 1 reference for Part 3
Part 1 will take a full class period and is broken into 4 time chunks. It uses a “Polymath Puzzle” hook to draw students into carefully studying a scatter plot created from real data. Students then learn about how female song has been missed in barn swallows (a very common bird species).
Presentation
Student Worksheet
Teacher Worksheet
Students learn how to make dot plots and learn how histograms are made by binning data into ranges. This lesson is slightly shorter than the other two parts.
Presentation
Student Worksheet
Teacher Worksheet
Students create a histogram from raw data and use the scatter plot and histogram for reflection and synthesis. They will also synthesize all they have learned about histograms, dot plots, scatter plots, and the barn swallow study to answer big questions about why female song has been missed in this common species and why that matters.
Presentation
Student Worksheet
Teacher Worksheet
Table 1 reference for Part 3
Part 1 will take a full class period and is broken into 4 time chunks. It uses a “Polymath Puzzle” hook to draw students into carefully studying a scatter plot created from real data. Students then learn about how female song has been missed in barn swallows (a very common bird species).
Presentation
Student Worksheet
Teacher Worksheet
Students learn how to make dot plots and learn how histograms are made by binning data into ranges. This lesson is slightly shorter than the other two parts.
Presentation
Student Worksheet
Teacher Worksheet
Students create a histogram from raw data and use the scatter plot and histogram for reflection and synthesis. They will also synthesize all they have learned about histograms, dot plots, scatter plots, and the barn swallow study to answer big questions about why female song has been missed in this common species and why that matters.
Presentation
Student Worksheet
Teacher Worksheet
Table 1 reference for Part 3
Designed for remote teaching, using the Nearpod platform. It can also be used in-person, and the student-paced version is great for a sub plan.
*Remote teaching of our lessons requires a minimum (free) Silver Subscription to Nearpod. Sign up here.
Part 1 will take a full class period and is broken into 4 time chunks. It uses a “Polymath Puzzle” hook to draw students into carefully studying a scatter plot created from real data. Students then learn about how female song has been missed in barn swallows (a very common bird species).
Students learn how to make dot plots and learn how histograms are made by binning data into ranges. This lesson is slightly shorter than the other two parts.
Students create a histogram from raw data and use the scatter plot and histogram for reflection and synthesis. They will also synthesize all they have learned about histograms, dot plots, scatter plots, and the barn swallow study to answer big questions about why female song has been missed in this common species and why that matters.
Presentation
(Optional) Student Handout for Filling in Table 2
(Optional) Teacher Handout for Filling in Table 2
Part 1 will take a full class period and is broken into 4 time chunks. It uses a “Polymath Puzzle” hook to draw students into carefully studying a scatter plot created from real data. Students then learn about how female song has been missed in barn swallows (a very common bird species).
Students learn how to make dot plots and learn how histograms are made by binning data into ranges. This lesson is slightly shorter than the other two parts.
Students create a histogram from raw data and use the scatter plot and histogram for reflection and synthesis. They will also synthesize all they have learned about histograms, dot plots, scatter plots, and the barn swallow study to answer big questions about why female song has been missed in this common species and why that matters.
Presentation
(Optional) Student Handout for Filling in Table 2
(Optional) Teacher Handout for Filling in Table 2
Part 1 will take a full class period and is broken into 4 time chunks. It uses a “Polymath Puzzle” hook to draw students into carefully studying a scatter plot created from real data. Students then learn about how female song has been missed in barn swallows (a very common bird species).
Students learn how to make dot plots and learn how histograms are made by binning data into ranges. This lesson is slightly shorter than the other two parts.
Students create a histogram from raw data and use the scatter plot and histogram for reflection and synthesis. They will also synthesize all they have learned about histograms, dot plots, scatter plots, and the barn swallow study to answer big questions about why female song has been missed in this common species and why that matters.
Presentation
(Optional) Student Handout for Filling in Table 2
(Optional) Teacher Handout for Filling in Table 2
This lesson is broken into 3 Parts, which will each take a full 45min class period for most groups of students, though upper-level high schoolers may finish more quickly. Part 3 may require extra time for thorough reflection.
Part 1 will take a full class period and is broken into 4 time chunks. It uses a “Polymath Puzzle” hook to draw students into carefully studying a scatter plot created from real data. Students then learn about how female song has been missed in barn swallows (a very common bird species).
Introduction to Ciphers
Students learn how to crack a type of secret message called a cipher. They will need this background to solve the Polymath Puzzle engagement hook.
By spending some time introducing students to ciphers, we are laying the groundwork for cipher-based puzzle hooks for each part of this lesson. The Polymath Puzzle in Part 1 draws students into decoding the labels on a graph in order to engage them in trying to understand the next level of meaning in the graph, creating a rich data literacy learning experience. In the first step, students learn that ciphers are used to make a secret message. We use a simple cipher called an alphabetic shift, where each letter of each word in a message has been shifted a certain number of places (e.g. +1 would mean A becomes B, B becomes C, and so on).
This section works on assimilating new vocabulary, as well as encouraging students to have a growth mindset. They need to quickly orient themselves to the "system" of ciphers and how they work. Parts 2 and 3 of the lesson will build on this engagement hook.
Ask students to read slides and predict what the next slide will be (e.g. the next letter in the alphabetic shift). Model a growth mindset, and that it's ok to not completely understand at first.
Cipher Practice
Students practice determining an algorithm given plaintext (normal text) or a cipher.
In the remote version students provide responses digitally using Nearpod.*
All remote versions of GP lessons can be completed using a free Nearpod account.
The Polymath Puzzle
Students use their new skills to decipher the coded axes of a scatter plot graph representing data from a real scientific study.
Decipher algorithms for grade bands:
Set a definite time limit (e.g. 5min) to solve and enter deciphered text, and move on. The videos will clear up any misunderstandings.
How to solve the cipher
Students watch ▶"How to solve the Polymath Puzzle from the "Females Sing" lesson" to scaffold student understanding.
Students will either discuss their strategies (in-person) or choose which strategy they adopted (remote).
What Does it Mean?
Students watch ▶"How to read the deciphered scatter plot" to scaffold understanding. Then they’ll discuss as a class.
Students share all their observations and wonderings about the graph. They then come up with their own educated guesses (hypotheses) for what the graph's story is. (i.e. What species is being studied? What patterns are shown? What was being studied?)
For the remote version, classroom discussion/ brainstorming is done with a Nearpod Collaboration Board. If doing student-paced lesson, this will need to be enabled.
Encourage any student observations or guesses at the graph's meaning, no matter how basic. Start with, what kind of data are on the X and Y axes? Which sex has the most songs per day? Are there any "weird" points (outliers) that stand out from the rest?
Mystery Reveal
Students watch ▶"Polymath Puzzle Reveal—Is the graph about birds, spiders, whales,…?", which connects the puzzle to current research and data literacy.
Pivot to Histograms
Students learn about how the study’s original authors were questioned on their use of scatter plots vs histograms.
Choice of Data Visuals
Students watch ▶"Scatter plots or histograms? Why data visualization is important", which connects scatter plots to histograms and pivots to Part 2 of this lesson.
Students are briefly introduced to the concept of peer review & learn about how scientists (& everyone) can disagree about the best way to represent data. Students are put into the shoes of the study's authors and over the next two sessions will learn what a histogram is, make the histogram with the real data, and determine whether the study reviewer was right in suggesting that a histogram would be better than a scatter plot to show this data. A key concept here is that understanding graphs is a type of literacy that gives us power.
Reflection
Part 1 ends with a customizable reflection slide and review of covered vocabulary, and topics.
Reflection Ideas:
Students learn how to make dot plots and learn how histograms are made by binning data into ranges. This lesson is slightly shorter than the other two parts.
Engagement Hook
Students begin by solving an alphabetic shift.
“Cherry Trees” is a reference to the histogram example…leave it for students to notice.
Concept: Range
Students learn new vocabulary. Then histogram is explained through a real world example of heights of cherry trees.
Concept: Dot Plot
Students follow along as the presentation shows how the data is used to create a Dot Plot. Check-in formative assessments of understanding are built in.
Concept: Binning
Students watch ▶"Connections between dot plots and histograms (with sound)" and then follow along as the presentation shows how to bin the cherry tree data.
This video has some silly sound effects which will hopefully increase engagement and help students remember the connections between dot plots and histograms.
Analyzing the Data
While showing the completed histogram, presentation asks two questions prompting analysis and critical review of the graph.
Review
A quick review of the steps just taken (find range, create dot plot, bin data, draw bars to create histogram) to prep students for Part 3.
Check-In
Students are asked to match graphs to their names.
The end of Part 2 ends with a customizable reflection slide and review of covered vocabulary, and topics.
Part 3 is a bit longer, so if you have extra time, you may want to preview part of what's coming up tomorrow.
Students create a histogram from raw data and use the scatter plot and histogram for reflection and synthesis. They will also synthesize all they have learned about histograms, dot plots, scatter plots, and the barn swallow study to answer big questions about why female song has been missed in this common species and why that matters.
Engagement Hook
Students warm up with a cipher. They need to shift back 3 to decipher “FEMALES SING,” referring to the overlooked fact that females in many bird species sing, just less frequently than males.
Make sure to only spend a few minutes on the warm-up. This is a long lesson.
Review
Students get reoriented to the driving question: Is a scatter plot the right way to show the data? The scientist peer reviewer had suggested that a histogram would be better. Students will make a histogram and decide if they agree.
Understanding Table 1
Students are guided through understanding what the data are and how they are categorized in Table 1. This is the raw data, representing the number of songs recorded for each bird, along with their sex & ID code.
Connecting the Data to Reality
The ▶"Getting to know your data: Counting barn swallow songs" video shows what barn swallow song sounds like and how songs were counted, to deepen connection to the data. (It’s not said, but this is male song. Female song is not shown in this lesson. See the bonus video for examples).
Check-In
Students are reminded of how data points are plotted on a dot plot. To check in they’re asked to draw the missing point (remote) or say how many songs the missing bird sang (in-person).
Synthesis
Presentation reviews the cherry tree height data from Part 2 to show how data organization affects the type of graph you can make. We want to bin the data in order to make a histogram to answer our driving question: Is a scatter plot or histogram better to visualize our song data?
Binning Data
Students are walked through what a “bin” is (a range of data points that get combined), and how this looks in table and graph form.
Worked Example
Students are walked through how to count up the raw data in Table 1 and bin them in Table 2.
For G5-8 versions, male data is binned as an example. In G9-12, students have to bin both sexes, which are also coded as “one” and “two” in order to require a deeper understanding as the older students figure out which is male and female by comparing the two graphs.
Students Bin Data
Students fill out Table 2 by binning the raw data in Table 1. (All they have to do is count up the number of individual birds who sang a number of songs in a given range).
Students have the option of copying it down on scratch paper or downloading it as a word document (linked in the presentation). If using in-person version, the worksheet is provided.
It's important to set a hard time limit on this step, otherwise, it may eat up class time. You may consider doing the whole table as a class together, depending on your class's grade or motivation level.
Students Draw Histogram
Students use their binned data to create the histogram. G5-8 students only need to make the female histogram. G9-12 make both (except for 2 example bins which are done as an example).
Students will draw the histogram digitally or on their worksheet, based on remote or in-person teaching.
Again, make sure to provide a clear time limit on this step in order to finish.
Connecting the Dots
Students are asked to solve one of two puzzles, depending on their grade level. Both tasks assess how well students understand how the same data is represented in the 2 graphs.
Reflection
Students are asked a set of reflection questions and should conclude that the scatter plot is a better visualization for this data set because: with the histogram, we lose out on the important detail that females only sing early in the spring.
Task: (G5-8) Draw the legend on the scatterplot from comparing to the male and female histograms or (G9-12) figure out the true sex of the coded “one” (female) and “two” (male) histograms from looking at the scatterplot with labeled sexes.
Discussion & Synthesis
Part 3 has a customizable discussion. You may copy and edit slides to make it your own if you prefer.
Key Take-Homes to Drive Toward During Reflection
This lesson allows students to explore the actual data from the study and to hear from the study’s lead author to deepen data literacy and understanding of the scientific method. Students explore one of the primary figures in the study, a scatter plot (graph) showing different patterns of male and female singing output over the breeding season. Importantly, males sang much more than females and for a longer time (May-Aug, rather than just May). Thus, because males sing more frequently, if we assume (as has been common for birders and scientists until recently) that only males sing, your assumptions are reinforced more easily, because you are less likely to see a female sing.
During the peer review process, an anonymous scientist suggested that the scatter plot was not a good way to represent the data, instead suggesting that the authors should have displayed a histogram. In Parts 2 and 3 of the lesson, students aggregate (combine) the authentic study data in order to create a histogram. They must then interpret the data in both formats (deepening their understanding of how histograms and scatter plots relate to each other), and conclude which is a better way to demonstrate the study’s findings, explaining why.
For further reflection, students are then asked to synthesize what they have learned, along with new information presented to them. Why has female song been missed? Partially because of a pre-existing assumption that females don't sing, along with less common singing behavior in females. Why do females sing less? Because natural selection favors females who sing less. Females must sit on eggs for around 2 weeks, leaving them open to predation. If they were to sing as loudly and provocatively as males, they would attract predators which would eat them or their eggs, passing on no genes. Thus, natural selection has likely caused female song to be lost, simplified, or to be produced for short time periods during establishment of the breeding season in many species around the world.
This lesson is based on a recent study that describes female song in barn swallows for the first time. Barn swallows are one of the most common birds in the world and have been the subject of more than 1000 studies, yet published birding field guides and scientific papers have all failed to describe female song or they describe it incorrectly as being the same as male song (females have their own song type). This is an important oversight, because research on male bird song has informed a lot of theory in biology about how populations evolve through mate choice and competition involving vocal communication, and how new species form.
Ignoring the sounds females make may result from inherent biases. Since bird song became an area of scientific study in the 1800s, it was almost exclusively researched by white males in the Northern Hemisphere. Since women have become welcomed into all areas of science, and research institutions have focused more intent study in tropical regions of the world, studies have discovered that female song is the ancestral state (i.e. the ancestor of all living song birds had both singing males and females). Moreover, female song has not been entirely lost in most species. As in the barn swallow, natural selection has favored females that sing less often, and to have more concise songs that are often restricted to the pre-egg-laying part of the breeding season. This drop in female singing after egg-laying is thought to stem from trying not to draw predators to nests. Due to lack of study, the full function of song in competition among females, male mate choice, or other functions is not well understood in most species.
Further Reading:
This Galactic Polymath Learning Chart illustrates the areas of knowledge covered. This lesson targets Math, but it helps teach national learning standards in 4 subjects:
Notes on Standards
*Standards are broken down into Target and Connected categories. Target standards are directly reinforced or taught; connected standards are not fully addressed in the lesson, but connected enough to provide a foundation for teachers to build upon.
Dimension: Measurement, Data, Probability & Statistics
Grade: 6
6.SP.A.2: Understand that a set of data collected to answer a statistical question has a distribution which can be described by its center, spread, and overall shape.
Grade: 8
8.SP.A.1: Construct and interpret scatter plots for bivariate measurement data to investigate patterns of association between two quantities. Describe patterns such as clustering, outliers, positive or negative association, linear association, and nonlinear association.
Grades: 9-12
HSS-ID.B.6: Represent data on two quantitative variables on a scatter plot, and describe how the variables are related.
Grades: 9-12
HSS-ID.A.1: Represent data with plots on the real number line (dot plots, histograms, and box plots).
Dimension: Measurement, Data, Probability & Statistics
Grade: 6
6.SP.B.4: Display numerical data in plots on a number line, including dot plots, histograms, and box plots.
Grade: 6
6.SP.B.5: Summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context, such as by:
6.SP.B.5a: Reporting the number of observations.
6.SP.B.5c: Giving quantitative measures of center (median and/or mean) and variability (interquartile range and/or mean absolute deviation), as well as describing any overall pattern and any striking deviations from the overall pattern with reference to the context in which the data were gathered.
Grades: 9-12
HSS-CP.A.4: Construct and interpret two-way frequency tables of data when two categories are associated with each object being classified. Use the two-way table as a sample space to decide if events are independent and to approximate conditional probabilities. *For example, collect data from a random sample of students in your school on their favorite subject among math, science, and English. Estimate the probability that a randomly selected student from your school will favor science given that the student is in tenth grade. Do the same for other subjects and compare the results.*
Students use real data to construct a frequency table, then use the data to create and compare the results in a scatter plot and histogram.
Students evaluate the results of the two graphs, discuss how the two graphs provide similar and different information, and determine possible conditional probabilities with regard to female and male bird songs.
Dimension: Language, Speaking & Listening
Grade: 6
L.6.6: Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
Grade: 6
SL.6.2: Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.
Grades: K-12
CCRA.L.4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.
Grades: K-12
CCRA.SL.2: Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
Dimension: Reading
Grades: 6-8
RST.6-8.4: Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to *grades 6-8 texts and topics*.
Grades: 6-8
RST.6-8.7: Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).
Grades: K-12
CCRA.R.7: Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
Dimension: Science & Engineering Practices
Grades: 6-8
MATH-M3: Create algorithms (a series of ordered steps) to solve a problem.
Grades: 6-8
DATA-M1: Construct, analyze, and/or interpret graphical displays of data and/or large data sets to identify linear and nonlinear relationships.
Grades: 6-8
MATH-M2: Use mathematical representations to describe and/or support scientific conclusions and design solutions.
Grades: 6-8
ARG-M3: Construct, use, and/or present an oral and written argument supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute an explanation or a model for a phenomenon or a solution to a problem.
Grades: 9-12
MATH-H2: Use mathematical, computational, and/or algorithmic representations of phenomena or design solutions to describe and/or support claims and/or explanations.
Grades: 9-12
DATA-H4: Compare and contrast various types of data sets (e.g., self-generated, archival) to examine consistency of measurements and observations.
Dimension: Evaluating Sources, Communicating Conclusions & Taking Action
Grades: 6-8
D4.2.6-8: Construct explanations using reasoning, correct sequence, examples, and details with relevant information and data, while acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of the explanations.
Grades: 6-8
D4.1.6-8: Construct arguments using claims and evidence from multiple sources, while acknowledging the strengths and limitations of the arguments.
Grades: 9-12
D4.2.9-12: Construct explanations using sound reasoning, correct sequence (linear or non-linear), examples, and details with significant and pertinent information and data, while acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of the explanation given its purpose (e.g., cause and effect, chronological, procedural, technical).
For students who finish early/ want to explore on their own at home, there is a code hidden in the lesson title. Decoding it will require them to gain new tech skills. It also gives them a glimpse at a huge realm of knowledge (binary and hexadecimal encoding of data), though they don’t need to fully understand it to solve the problem.
At the end of the worksheet, students can optionally learn to translate a hexadecimal code into a web address. Hexadecimals (hex) are a system for encoding information in computers. Search for a “hex to text converter.” Translate the Task # on the front page to get a secret web link.
This is a fun “tech-savviness/independence” growth activity. Students are asked to dive into a complex topic (hexadecimal encoding/decoding of text) without much support. But it’s actually not that hard. The goal is to encourage all students to not shut down when something sounds complicated and to learn how to think creatively and use the power of the web to their benefit.
They should do a web search for “hex to text converter”
Please share your thoughts using this form and we will use it to improve this and other future lessons.
This is a fantastic lesson! I love how it combines actual research and allows the students the opportunity for analysis. I also love the fact that the peer review process is included in the explanation for the types of graphs used. This really allows students to see and understand the scientific process in action. Love it!!
Overall Rating: 5/5
Student Engagement: 4/5
Overall Learning: 5/5
Would Recommend to Other Teachers: 5/5
Student Level: Grade 8–Sarah Huneycutt, Homeschool Teacher in Nashville, TN
I really enjoy this lesson! It is so engaging and fun!
–11th Grader in Nashville, TN
I think it looks like a very interactive lesson and it will hopefully be engaging and interesting to some students. It looks uncomplicated and it gives you all of the resources you will ever need for the lesson. The fact that it shows you how to create graphs and diagrams in the individual powerpoints is a good attribute in my opinion.
-11th Grader in Savannah, GAMy biggest takeaway from the lesson was the importance of choosing the right way to display data…I don’t have any negative feedback…I really liked the lesson and appreciated how it was interactive and not just a lecture, like many of my online classes have become.
–11th Grader in Nashville, TN
Matt Wilkins, PhD
“I worked on this lesson for months, adapting my research into what will hopefully be a mind-expanding learning experience for pretty much all students, aged 11 and up! If you enjoy this lesson, please let us know–we want your feedback! This is the first of many, many Galactic Polymath lessons. Feel free to tag me (@mattwilkinsbio) and GP (@galacticPM) on Twitter with your experiences and student questions! And don’t forget to sign up for our mailing list to hear about what’s coming up next!”
Carver Lee, MA (csalt design co.)
Stephanie Castillo (aka Phuture Doctors)
(Teachers who trialed earlier versions of the lesson with their children or students)
(Instructional and subject experts who provided input or validation on content accuracy)
Apr 13, 2020
This is intended to be taught in a single day. Includes both classroom and a remote version with Nearpod.
Aug 12, 2020
Sep 21, 2020
Produced by Phuture Doctors, scaffolding student understanding of content
Oct 04, 2020
From 1 day into 3 separate class sessions.
Thanks to Sarah Huneycutt (Nashville, TN) for beta testing this with her class and indicating this needed to be broken up.
Jan 05, 2021
For G9-12, students make both histograms; younger students make the female histogram in Part 3.
Thanks to Lauryn Benedict (Greeley, CO) for making the suggestion that students create (not just interpret) the histogram, and deepen learning.
Mar 01, 2021
Aesthetics streamlined, graphics, new video showing song counting and other changes.
Apr 01, 2021
Debut version of the first official Galactic Polymath lesson. Fully differentiated for G5-6, 7-8, 9-12, also with remote versions. Also added Teach-It-In-15 quickview presentations for all 3 days, and a lesson trailer.
Thanks to Bonnie Flint (Dallas, TX) for feedback leading to changes to our final lesson format.
Apr 05, 2021
Fixed slides 44-47 in Part 3 remote presentation more intuitive. Added pink coloring to lesson plan time, grade and subject stats.
Thanks to Emily Hudson (Nashville, TN) for suggestions.
Apr 20, 2021
First version with a full complement of in-person classroom versions of presentations and handouts. Fixed problem with Part 3 warm-up. The descriptions of the solution were backwards (i.e. the cipher is -3 encipher, +3 decipher, not the opposite).
Aug 16, 2021
Also updated links in acknowledgments
Aug 20, 2021
-Changed driving question from "Why has female barn swallow song been ignored or missed by scientists and bird watchers until 2020?" to "What is the best way to visualize data?"