Data for kids: Teaching data organization and analysis

Data is a collection of information that we can sort and use to understand things, like how many shoes we own, how many kids in our family have blue eyes, and how many people on planet Earth prefer summer over winter.

Every day, humans create about 2.5 quintillion bytes of data! So, whether you say day-ta or dar-tar, data organization and analysis is a powerful tool that allows us to draw conclusions from raw information, kind of like putting pieces of a puzzle together to see the bigger picture.

In our data for kids video, we learn about organizing data, understanding data, and different ways of representing data. Lucky for us, our friendly circular presenter has a mind-bending 17 brothers and sisters, all of which volunteered to take part in our data science for kids lesson. Almost all did a fantastic job on their Scratch Garden debut — Francis and August, we’re looking at you.

Enough rambling. Let’s take a deep dive into the world of data.

Learning about observational data with kids

Life is full of options, and when it comes to understanding data and data analysis, we have choices. For one, we can use our eyeballs to see the information deduced from data.

Back to those 17 brothers and sisters. We can use our eyes to observe what color they are: blue, green, or purple. Then, we can record that data in a chart and use our chart to draw conclusions.

Now, our friendly circular presenter can’t create a data chart without the help of a few young learners (our data and math videos for kids are interactive!), and that’s where you and the kids come to the rescue.

You count. We make tally marks. What are tally marks? We’re glad you asked.

Quick detour: Tally marks for kids

Tally marks are a way of counting using lines. First, we make up-and-down lines for up to four. Then, we make a side-to-side line through the group of four to represent five. Admittedly, it’s a tricky concept to explain. Maybe you’d like to observe tally marks.

When we get to six, we start again, creating a new group.

Now, back to understanding data

Where were we? Oh, yeah! We were collecting data using tally charts about the colors of our friendly circular presenter’s 17 brothers and sisters. In this phase of learning about data organization, we’re using our eyes.

But our eyes aren’t the only way we can collect and interpret data. We can also ask questions using our voice.

We can ask our friends how many times they’ve traveled on a plane, how old they were when they got their driver’s license, or what time they usually go to bed. Or we can ask friendly circular presenter’s 17 brothers and sisters which bug they like best: spiders, ladybugs, or butterflies.

Representing data with pictographs for kids

Tally marks are one way to represent and analyze data, but it’s not the only way. There are many different charts and graphs kids can use to organize and understand the data they collect through observation or asking questions.

A pictograph is one of these charts — they allow us to represent data with pictures.

Teaching data for kids

Data helps us understand the world around us, and teaching data with kids is fun (and hilarious) with Scratch Garden! So what are you waiting for? Watch the video now!