Our Top App Tips for Data Handling
Statistics or data handling is an area of math which includes a number of key skills which go across a number of subject areas including science and geography. These include the ability to collect, present, analyse and investigate information. It’s an area of math which children find fun and enjoyable and which can involve them using their number skills, investigative thinking and creativity.
Data handling is introduced in the early years – with children representing data about themselves or their environment on pictograms – right up to complex graphing, plotting of co-ordinates and understanding averages.
There are some fabulous data handling apps that can provide children with opportunities to practise and perfect their use of data. Here are our recommended apps, along with tips on using them with kids or students:
1) Great Graphs: Being able to create a range of graphs in order to analyse data is key to math and science. Quick Graph is a detailed graphing calculator that plots points, graphs lines, equations, and shapes on a coordinate plane, as well as a 3-dimensional plane. Quick Graph is good for helping students practise and strengthen their data-handling skills without having to draw the graphs themselves.
2) Cool Coordinates: Kids can practise plotting coordinates from an early age (learning both mapping and graphing skills in the process) using SmartKid Maths. It’s a fantastic math app and children will not realise that they are learning or doing maths as the more they play and get questions correct, the more that they are able to play against the cats in the app.
3) Perfect Probability: Lots of events and occurrences can’t be predicted with absolute certainty. In order for children to be able to weigh up the chances of e.g. winning the lottery they need to understand the rules of probability. Khan Academy teaches both adults and children the topic of probability through super easy-to-understand videos. With the Khan Academy app they can be watched anywhere!
4) Plot to Perfection: With Curve Fitter and Curve Plotter, maths and science students will find line graphs can be quickly constructed and analysed. It is relatively easy to produce a graph with these apps as well as generating the useful calculations required to find the pattern or relationship between variables. They are suitable for students 11+ with support.
5) Velocity Make Simple: Help your child to gain an understanding of the basics about the relationship between position and time, all the way through to recognising acceleration by calculating the slope of a velocity-time graph using fun gaming app Action Graphing. Instructions of how to use the app are given in snippets as and when you need to know them so it’s suitable for younger children too…
Have fun discovering data handling with your kids or students!