Animal Tracks: What Do They Reveal?
4. Analyze Your Data
Once your outdoor explorations are done, it’s time to analyze your data.
You can graph your data by hand on notepaper or on a large flip chart for the class to see. Or use the steps below to create and print graphs on-line:
When you have graphed your results, answer the following questions and discuss your results with your class.
- Review the answers you gave on your student worksheet “Building Background Knowledge.” Discuss in your small group whether you would change any of your previous answers, and why.
- Compare your results with the results of the other teams in your class. Are there similarities or differences that might be evidence that explains the presence of animals in some locations and not others? Does your data suggest that some animals have special food preferences?
- Did you find different animals in different habitat types? Did human activity seem to influence the types of animals found in different locations?
- Did you learn something new from your outdoor explorations? Did anything surprise you? If you were to do this again, would you change any of your methods?