This month, the U.S. Census Bureau launched an updated website with free K-12 lesson plans for teaching statistics through geography, history, math, and social studies activities.
The Statistics in Schools lessons use current and historical data to help students understand statistical concepts. The activities were created by teachers, according to a spokeswoman for the group.
The program originally came out around the 2000 census and was focused on helping students understand the census process. The updated site emphasizes general data literacy and allows teachers to search activities by grade band and subject.
The lessons include:
- A 9th grade math lesson looking at census data on marriage and divorce rates;
- A 3rd grade math lesson looking at the number of amusement parks per state;
- A 5th/6th grade lesson on voting trends by age, race, sex, and other factors between 1964 and 2014.
As we wrote recently, only about 1 in 4 high school seniors report having taken a statistics course, and low-income students are less likely than their high-income peers to have taken the subject. Some argue that statistical analysis skills are becoming even more critical as data are proliferating quickly across all sectors.
A press release from the Census Bureau says there are about 100 activities and resources on the site, including activities, videos, infographics, and searchable data tools.