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In this badge, designed to help Middle School teachers make the connection between Data Collection, Mathematical Analysis and Scientific Reasoning, participants will be using the NASA EYES On the Solar System app. In the completion of the badge, participants will collect data about the distance between the Earth and Sun, analyze that data and determine if there is a direct correlation between season and distance from the Sun.

Educators strive to create opportunities and develop future scientists and mathematicians to explore curiosities and question the world they live in. Mathematics nurtures the qualities of the power of reasoning, creativity, and problem-solving abilities. Scientists and mathematicians collect and analyze data to answer questions, make sense of the world around them, and make new discoveries. In order to practice data collection and analyzing skills, it’s important to answer the questions: What is data collection? Why is collecting data important? The following is a definition provided by Data Collection- The Office of Research Integrity.

Data Collection is the process of gathering and measuring information on variables of interest, in an established systematic fashion that enables one to answer stated research questions, test hypotheses, and evaluate outcomes. Accurate data collection is essential to maintaining the integrity of research.

This activity addresses

CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP4 Model with mathematics.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP5 Use appropriate tools strategically.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.EE.C.9 Grade 6 Represent and analyze quantitative relationships between dependent and independent variables. Use variables to represent two quantities in a real-world problem that change in relationship to one another; write an equation to express one quantity, thought of as the dependent variable, in terms of the other quantity, thought of as the independent variable. Analyze the relationship between the dependent and independent variables using graphs and tables, and relate these to the equation. For example, in a problem involving motion at constant speed, list and graph ordered pairs of distances and times, and write the equation d = 65t to represent the relationship between distance and time.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.F.B.5 Grade 8 Use functions to model relationships between quantities. Describe qualitatively the functional relationship between two quantities by analyzing a graph (e.g., where the function is increasing or decreasing, linear or nonlinear). Sketch a graph that exhibits the qualitative features of a function that has been described verbally.

Click here to begin the steps of the badge.