Difficulty: beginner/intermediate
Lesson Type: curriculum unit
Subject: computer science		 Grade Level:
  • 6-12
Resources on Google Drive:
Data in Action:
Collecting Data Using Bar Graphs and Pie Charts (Folder)
An image of a graph showing a student's data on their mood in bar graphs and pie charts.
Developing and Using Models: Students create a polling system for collecting and visualizing data with a bar graph and pie chart. This guide provides everything students need to learn how to collect data from individuals.

Prerequisites:
  • Comfort navigating App Inventor Designer and Blocks screens.
  • Up-to-Date App Inventor Companion.
Learning Objective:
This lesson can serve as a resource for a lesson that aligns with NGSS, Practice 2e: "Develop and/or use a model (including mathematical and computational) to generate data to support explanations, predict phenomena, analyze systems, and/or solve problems."

Duration Target Grades
1 x 50-minute lesson Middle & High School | Grades 6-12
Data in Action: Using Spreadsheets and Charts (Folder)
  • Part 1: Make Sense of Data with Charts
  • Part 2: Deepen Your Understanding by Comparing Datasets
  • Part 3: Gather Evidence by Comparing Multiple Examples
  • Part 4: Add a Mathematical Model to the App

An image of a graph showing ice duration data.

Developing and Using Models: Students create a graph using data from a Google Sheets spreadsheet. They compare datasets found on multiple sheets and, in a final step, add a line of best fit.

Today, making sense of data through visualization is a crucial skill for identifying real-world problems in your community and communicating evidence about them to others. Follow along as Janelle, an environmental scientist, gathers information about beautiful Spirit Lake in Iowa to answer important questions about changes she has witnessed on its shores. Janelle uses her app to solve the problem of predicting and mitigating ecosystem disturbance.

This guide provides everything students need to learn how to create new phone apps with their own datasets.

Prerequisites:
  • Comfort navigating App Inventor Designer and Blocks screens.
  • Up-to-Date App Inventor Companion (version 2.65 or higher) for Android devices (iOS Spreadsheet capability currently in development)
  • Only Part 4: Some prior knowledge of statistical terms
Learning Objective:
This lesson can serve as a resource in a unit on climate change that aligns with NGSS, LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience or Practice 2e: "Develop and/or use a model (including mathematical and computational) to generate data to support explanations, predict phenomena, analyze systems, and/or solve problems."

Duration Target Grades
2 x 50-minute lesson High School | Grades 9-12

Appendices: (Folder)
  • Appendix A: Link Your App to Your Own Spreadsheet
  • Appendix B: Create a Google Sheets Credential for Free to Read and Write to Private Spreadsheets