Unit 4:   Choosing Your Dataset

imageUnit 4Choosing Your Dataset
Unit Overview

Students deepen their understanding of Table Plans, learning how to write a good sample table. They also choose their own datasets, and explore them by writing filters and column builders using the Design Recipe.

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Product Outcomes:
  • Students use Table Plans to answer questions using pie and bar charts

  • Students choose a dataset they are interested in

Standards and Evidence Statements:

Standards with prefix BS are specific to Bootstrap; others are from the Common Core. Mouse over each standard to see its corresponding evidence statements. Our Standards Document shows which units cover each standard.

  • BS-DR.1: The student is able to translate a word problem into a Contract and Purpose Statement

    • BS-DR.2: The student can derive test cases for a given contract and purpose statement

      • BS-PL.3: The student is able to use the syntax of the programming language to define values and functions

        Length: 95 Minutes
        Glossary:
        • bar chart: a visualization in which a data set is represented by vertical bars, with length proportional to values

        • pie chart: A chart where the size of each pie slice corresponds to a value in the data set

        Materials:
          Preparation:

            Types

            Functions

            Values

            Number

            num-sqrt, num-sqr

            4, -1.2. 2/3

            String

            string-repeat, string-contains

            "hello" "91"

            Boolean

            true false

            Image

            triangle, circle, star, rectangle, ellipse, square, text, overlay

            imageimage



            Review

            Overview

            Learning Objectives

              Evidence Statementes

                Product Outcomes

                  Materials

                    Preparation

                      Review (Time 10 minutes)

                      • Review

                        Open your "Animals Dataset (w/Functions)" file. (If you do not have this file, or if something has happened to it, you can always make a new copy.)

                      • Look at the pie and bar charts on Page 21, and write down what you notice and wonder. Why are some questions easier to answer with one kind of chart or another?

                        Have students share back. Encourage students to read their observations aloud, to make sure they get practice saying and hearing these observations.

                      • You’ve now seen two kinds of charts for visualizing quantity: bar charts and pie charts. Both charts involve quantities and labels: each bar and slice is a measure of a quantitative column, and each one has a label. Both charts help us look at the whole dataset at once, and answer questions about quantity. As you’ve observed, bar charts are great when we want to know exactly "how much" of a thing is contained in a single row. Pie charts, on the other hand, are best when we want to know "what percent" of the thing in our table is contained in a single row.

                      Table Plan

                      Overview

                      Learning Objectives

                        Evidence Statementes

                          Product Outcomes

                          • Students use Table Plans to answer questions using pie and bar charts

                          Materials

                            Preparation

                              Table Plan (Time 20 minutes)

                              • Table PlanSample Tables are about a lot more than checking our work. Data Analysis is often used to make predictions, and if the sample dataset is bad those predictions can be wrong - and sometimes, really really wrong!

                                • Uber and Google are making self-driving cars, which use artificial intelligence to interpret sensor data and make predictions about whether a car should speed up, slow down, or slam on the breaks. This AI is trained on a lot of sample data, which it learns from. What might be the problem if the sample data only included roads in California?

                                • Law enforcement in many towns has started using facial-recognition software to automatically detect whether someone has a warrant out for their arrest. A lot of facial-recognition software, however, has been trained on sample data containing mostly white faces. As a result, it has gotten really good at telling white people apart, but often can’t tell the difference between people who aren’t white. Why might this be a problem?

                              • Even for simple analysis, it is critical to think carefully about the sample tables you use. Up to now, the Sample Table has been provided for you. But for our next Table Plan, you’ll need to make one of your own! A good Sample Table should have:

                                • At least the columns that matter - whether we’ll be ordering or filtering by those columns.

                                • A good Sample Table has enough rows to be a representative sample of the dataset. If our dataset has a mix of dogs and cats, for example, we want at least one of each in this table.

                                • A good Sample Table has rows in random order, so that we’ll notice if we need to order the table or not.

                              • It will take some practice for you to get good at making Sample Tables, but you can start by identifying bad ones! turn to Page 22, and write down what’s wrong with each of these tables.

                                If you’re teaching a math or statistics class, go deeper to discuss sampling techniques and sample errors.

                              • Can you come up with a good sample table of your own?

                                Turn to Page 23. Here is a mostly-complete Table Plan, but it’s missing some important parts! Complete this table plan by filling in the Contract, constructing a good sample table, and drawing the result.

                              Choose Your Dataset

                              Overview

                              Learning Objectives

                                Evidence Statementes

                                  Product Outcomes

                                  • Students choose a dataset they are interested in

                                  Materials

                                    Preparation

                                    Choose Your Dataset (Time 20 minutes)

                                    Exploring Your Dataset

                                    Overview

                                    Learning Objectives

                                      Evidence Statementes

                                        Product Outcomes

                                        • Students choose a dataset they are interested in

                                        Materials

                                          Preparation

                                          Exploring Your Dataset (Time 40 minutes)

                                          • Exploring Your Dataset

                                            Look at the spreadsheet for your data. What do you notice? What do you wonder? Write down your noticings and wonderings on Page 14.

                                            Have students share back.

                                          • Think about all the different ways you might want to look at your dataset. Would you want to sort it by one column or another? Filter it into different subsets, like we did with the Animals Dataset? Would you want to build new columns?
                                            • Take a minute to think about how you’d like to experiment with your dataset, and write your plans on Page 25.

                                            • In the Interactions Area, use .order-by to sort your dataset according to what you wrote on Page 25.

                                            • In the Definitions Area, use .row-n to define at least three values, representing different rows in your table.

                                          • Turn to Page 26, and use the Design Recipe to write the filter functions that you planned out on Page 25. When the teacher has checked your work, type them into the Definitions Area and use the .filter method to define your new tables.

                                          • Turn to Page 27, and use the Design Recipe to write the builder functions that you planned out on Page 25. When the teacher has checked your work, type them into the Definitions Area.

                                            It’s okay if the functions they design aren’t useful - this is for practice.

                                          • Take 10min to make at least one bar and pie chart of columns in one of your tables, and write up your findings on Page 28.

                                            Have students share back. Encourage students to read their observations aloud, to make sure they get practice saying and hearing these observations.

                                          Closing

                                          Overview

                                          Learning Objectives

                                            Evidence Statementes

                                              Product Outcomes

                                                Materials

                                                  Preparation

                                                  Closing (Time 5 minutes)

                                                  • Closing

                                                    Make sure to save your work. Hit the Save button in the top left. This will save your program in the code.pyret.org folder within your Google Drive.

                                                    If your students are working in groups, make sure that each student has access to a version of the program. Students can share their program with anyone by hitting the Publish button in the top left, choosing "Publish a new copy", then clicking the "Share Link" option.