ICT student textbook/Spreadsheet for data analysis

From Open Educational Resources
Jump to navigation Jump to search
ICT student textbook
Data representation and processing level 3 Spreadsheet for data analysis Multi page text document

Analyzing data with spreadsheets
In this activity, you will have large data sets on different items and you will learn methods of analyzing with spreadsheets.

Objectives

  1. Using a spreadsheet for data analysis
  2. Being able to identify how to group and view data
  3. Analyzing data and representing using charts and graphs; understanding what to analyze in a given data set
  4. Understanding the meaning of average, percentage difference, percentage share, growth rates, minimum and maximum and other such functionalities.
  5. Learning the use of different functionalities in spreadsheet for numerical analysis

What prior skills are assumed

  1. Familiarity with ICT environment
  2. Understanding of data organization
  3. Using spreadsheet for data inputs
  4. Making charts in spreadsheet

What resources do you need

  1. Working computer lab with projector
  2. Computers installed with Ubuntu Operating System
  3. Student generated data sets
  4. Secondary data sets
  5. Handout for LibreOffice Calc
  6. Handout for LibreOffice Writer

What digital skills will you learn

  1. Working with spreadsheets
  2. Making plots and graphs

Description of activity with detailed steps

Teacher led activity

Analyzing data from tabulated data - Rainfall

Your teacher will help you analyze the data of rainfall in Telangana, using available data. Click here for the file. Look at the data and discuss with your teacher what are the various data measures that can be calculated. For example, some questions from this data can be the following:

  1. What is the maximum rainfall amount? Which year?
  2. What is the minimum rainfall amount? Which year?
  3. What is the average rainfall in the last ten years?
  4. Is there any pattern of rainfall?
  5. Are there other data that you can study along with this data to understand the weather and climate in Telangana? For example, what could be the connection between rainfall data and temperature, crop production or floods?
  6. Which is the best way to represent this data as a graph? Why?
  7. What are the additional data sets you would collect?

Analyzing data from tabulated data - Temperature

Your teacher already discussed the rainfall data with you. You may have wondered about temperature. In the attached file (above), along with Telangana rainfall, you also have details of annual and seasonal, maximum and minimum temperature in India. Look at the data and discuss with your teacher what are the various data measures that can be calculated. Your questions may be:

  1. What is the maximum temperature by season? Which year was it?
  2. Which year had the highest maximum temperature? Is there any connection between the two?
  3. By how much does the maximum temperature vary across seasons?
  4. What is the difference between maximum and mean temperature?
  5. Which is the best way to represent this data as a graph? Why?
  6. What additional data sets would you collect?
  7. Can you conclude anything from this data set?

Student activities

Your teacher would have made different data sets for your analysis. Look in your folder on your computer for these data sets. For each of the data sets, identify how you would like to group the data, what to analyze, what measures are important to calculate (average, percentage share, percentage change, minimum, maximum, etc), and also plot the graphs.

  1. From time to time, the Indian government conducts census, from time to time, to understand how the population is growing as well as to get some information on how the population is distributed. Would you not like to know about yourself? Check the file here for the census data.
  2. Some data on fruits and flowers and some horticulture products grown in India have been compiled across 10 years. Analyze the data for yourself to see how much more you can learn about flowers and fruits! Click here for the file.
  3. You are so familiar with the cellphone. Would you like to see how India's cell phone use compares with the world. Click here for the file.
  4. Another interesting data is on the number and types of vehicles on the road in India. See what kinds of analysis is possible with this data. Click here for the file.

Portfolio

  1. In your continuing portfolio, you should create your own spreadsheets with the analysis.
  2. Your portfolio should also include a text document with a written description of the analysis.
  3. Your concept map with highlights of your analysis for presentation.