Creativity and Data Literacy– Together in a Jam!

While not all learners will become data scientists, they will all become data users and consumers. Visualizing, analyzing, and making decisions based on data are skills essential to 21st-century living: necessary for both work and personal life.

The LTER Schoolyard program from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is once again offering its Data Jam which emphasizes creativity in presenting data. Doing the Data Jam, students stretch their skills using data collected by our team of scientists, on oceanographic research cruises, south of Cape Cod. It’s the real thing!

Students choose a data set from our collection that interests them, then graph, analyze, and interpret what they see. They communicate their data-based story or message for the general public through song, dance, paint, or wherever their passions lead them. In the past years, among the projects we’ve had a video game, animations, plays, puppet shows, dances, storybooks, and a cake!

You can get students Data Jamming as a class project or after school activity (requiring ~4-8 hours). There are 3 different levels offered, making it doable by students from g.5-12.  Preregister by Dec 15 to receive an introductory workshop, individualized support, and even an online classroom visit. You can choose between the “Full Jam” or the “Mini Jam”. Project submissions are due Mar 15.