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Lesson 3 of 12 · Data

Data is everywhere

Students run a class survey, turn the answers into a tally table and a bar chart, and then list the data phones and apps collect and why.

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Lesson 3 of 12 · Data · Teacher's plan

Data is everywhere

Students run a class survey, turn the answers into a tally table and a bar chart, and then list the data phones and apps collect and why.

Students will be able to

  • collect simple data with a class survey
  • organise data in a tally table and draw a bar chart on paper
  • name kinds of data a phone or app might collect
  • explain why apps collect data and think about what they would rather keep private

Prepare

  • A survey question on the board, for example "How do you usually get to school?"
  • Squared paper or plain paper and rulers for bar charts
  • Coloured pens or pencils if you have them
  • One worksheet per student

Words to know

Data:
Facts or answers collected to learn something, such as survey answers or step counts.
Survey:
Asking many people the same question and recording their answers.
Tally:
Counting with marks, grouped in fives, to keep track as answers come in.
Personal data:
Data about a person that could identify them, such as name, face, phone number or location.

Main activity · Unplugged: paper and pens

Class survey to bar chart

The class answers a survey question by show of hands, records the results in a tally table and draws a bar chart. Students then list what data a phone or app collects, which shows that AI systems learn from data like this, gathered at a huge scale.

ManuAI pages for this lesson

The 45-minute plan · 45 minutes

Warm-up7 min

What did your phone learn today?

  • Ask: "What does a phone know about the person who uses it?" Take quick answers.
  • Write the word data on the board with a simple meaning: facts collected to learn something.
  • Tell students they will collect data about the class now.
Activity18 min

Run the survey

  • Read the question and four or five options: walk, bicycle, motorbike with family, bus, other.
  • Take a show of hands for each option. A student volunteer makes tally marks on the board.
  • Count the totals together and check they add up to the number of students present.
  • Students copy the tally table and draw a bar chart on paper, with labelled axes.
  • Ask: "What can we learn from this? What could a school plan with it?" (bike parking, safe crossings).
Practice15 min

Data your phone collects

  • In pairs, students list on the worksheet data a phone or app might collect: location, photos, what you watch, what you search, steps.
  • For each, they write why an app might want it, for example a map needs location.
  • Share a few answers. Ask which data students would want to keep private, and why.
Wrap-up5 min

Data is what AI learns from

  • Link back to lesson 1: AI learns patterns from data. Our survey is a tiny dataset.
  • Note that apps collect data from millions of people, so their patterns can be very detailed.
  • Hand out the exit ticket.

Teacher tips

  • Choose a survey question no student will feel awkward answering. Avoid questions about family money, religion, health or appearance.
  • Mixed levels: students who finish the chart early can work out the fraction or percentage for each option. Students who find charts hard can colour one square per student on squared paper.
  • Misconception: "data only means numbers". Show that photos, voice recordings and the videos you watch are data too.

Exit ticket answers

  1. Give one example of data a map app collects and say why it collects it. A good answer: It collects your location so it can show where you are and plan a route. It may also use many people's locations to see where traffic is slow.
  2. Our class survey found that most students walk to school. What kind of thing is this result? B. A pattern found in data
  3. Why do AI systems need lots of data? C. To find patterns that hold across many cases
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Worksheet · Lesson 3 of 12 · Data

Our class data

NameClassDate

Copy the class results, draw your chart, then think about the data around you.

  1. 1Copy the class tally and totals.

    How we get to schoolTallyTotal

  2. 2Draw a bar chart of the results. Label both axes and give it a title.

  3. 3Write one thing the chart tells you and one thing it cannot tell you.

  4. 4What data might a phone or app collect? Why might it want it?

    App or phone featureData it collectsWhy it wants it

  5. 5Which of these is personal data?

    • The total number of students in our survey
    • Your home address
    • The colour of the classroom walls
    • The day of the week
Free to print and share in classrooms and at home.ManuAI · free AI lessons for everyone · ai.manusignal.com

Cut along the dotted lines: two tickets per page.

Exit ticket · Lesson 3ManuAI

Data is everywhere

NameClassDate

  1. 1Give one example of data a map app collects and say why it collects it.

  2. 2Our class survey found that most students walk to school. What kind of thing is this result?

    • AA rule
    • BA pattern found in data
    • CA guess with no data
    • DPersonal data about one student

  3. 3Why do AI systems need lots of data?

    • ATo fill up the computer's memory
    • BBecause data makes the computer heavier
    • CTo find patterns that hold across many cases
    • DThey do not need any data