Continuing and revising our mini-studies

We've been continuing our work on our mini-studies, as mentioned in a previous blog entry. 

Pencils, tagged and being tracked

Students were given three choices for the subject of their study last week, and we've spent the time since then collecting data and fine-tuning (or radically redesigning) our data collection instruments. 

The original assignment 

After spending time working on these studies individually, we gathered today in small groups to reflect: 

This project has been an interesting challenge for us. What is the best way to collect data? What information is important? What's superfluous? What might be valuable later? What if you want to use your data to attempt to answer any of the following questions?: 

Collecting data in an organized, methodical way allows you to analyze it in different ways, some of which you might not anticipate at the beginning of a study. What patterns can be observed? What correlations might be drawn? What questions can be answered, and what further questions are inspired? Students worked in small groups today to share and compare their successes and their struggles, then revise their studies accordingly. 

Lee and Keira, comparing notes on their pencil tracking spreadsheets

It's challenging work, and it's being noticed! Some of the 7/8s became curious about all the oddly-marked pencils and inquired about what was going on. We then learned that a couple of industrious middle schoolers had been collecting all stray pencils that they had been left out all year and stashing them away. This partially solved a long-standing Summers-Knoll mystery this year: where do all of the pencils keep going?? When these enterprising young people realized that those pencils would better serve the community by being returned to circulation, they deposited dozens of them in our communal supply areas, solving our longstanding pencil shortage, while wreaking havoc on some of our studies. Science! 

Also exciting, our studies apparently made the S-K News!