← Back to course
Data and Society 9-12 / Week 04 / Mission Quest
6/6
Week 04 · Collecting and Recording

Mission Quest

Mission Quest: The window count
// One row per member, one column per question
⏱ about 20 min

Mission Quest: The Window Count

Saturday morning is quiet at Starling Commons. Comet sits by the big front window with a timer and a clipboard.

"I am counting birds," she says. "Every bird that lands on the fence."

Wren looks at her sheet. "Good. But what do you notice at the top of your page?"

Comet looks. The top is empty. "No date. No method. Nobody would know what this sheet is."

Nova hovers beside the window. "Would you like a hint?" she asks. "Write the label before the first bird lands."

Comet writes the date, her name as the collector and "bird count, window, tally every 5 minutes." Then a sparrow lands, and she makes her first mark.

  1. A data sheet has one row per record and one column per thing you measure.
  2. A tally becomes a frequency table, and its total is a check.
  3. Sampling means measuring at regular intervals. More detail means more to store.
  4. Metadata are data about data: what, when, who and how.
Safety first
Count from inside, through a window, or with a grown-up right beside you.
Count birds or vehicles, never people.
Never write down license plates or anything about a person.
◇ THE 15-MINUTE WINDOW COUNT
You need a grown-up, paper, a pencil and a clock, watch or kitchen timer.
Pick one thing to count: birds, or vehicles sorted by type such as car, truck, bus and bike.
Before you start, write a label at the top: what you count, the day, the collector (just write me) and the method.
Make a table with three rows: minutes 0 to 5, minutes 5 to 10 and minutes 10 to 15.
For vehicles, add one column for each type. For birds, use one column.
Watch for 15 minutes. Make a tally mark in the right row each time one passes.
If nothing passes in a 5-minute part, write 0. A count of 0 is real data.
At the end, add the three rows and write the total.
Explain your table to your grown-up. Keep the sheet, because you will graph it in week 7.
For a grown-up
This week your student learned to record data on a clear sheet, choose how often to count and label sheets.
Please help them pick a safe spot, inside or beside you, and keep the count to birds or vehicles only.
Ask: what does your label tell someone who finds this sheet next year?
Everything in this course is done on paper. No app, website or account is needed.
QUEST CHECK
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
You count in three 5-minute parts. How many minutes is that in all?
Which line belongs in your sheet's metadata label?
No vehicles pass in the last 5 minutes. What do you write?
Quest reviewTrue or false?
Writing the label before you start is a good habit.?
It is fine to write down a license plate if you see one.?
Counting every 5 minutes gives more detail than one count for the whole 15 minutes.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEThese three habits make any count useful, honest and safe.
← Friday