Capítulo V: Propuesta
5.07. Análisis e Interpretación de datos
5.07.01. Tabulación de Datos de la Encuesta
S T A N D A R D
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echnology plays an important part inchildren’s lives. It provides shelter, information, toys, clothing, and food. As current and future consumers, children should be able to determine if the use of a product or system will have positive or negative results. They also should begin comparing products to determine the best value.Students at this level should collect information about everyday products and systems, asking such questions as: Where did the product come from? How was it made? Does the product work well? Can I afford to buy it? Does the product do what it was advertised to do? What are the safety factors to be considered when using the product? How long will the product last? Does the product require additional costs (e.g., paper, film, or batteries)?
Learning to collect information about technology is important in developing an ability to correctly make decisions about its use and in evaluating its effectiveness. The concept of data collection as a means of decision making should be introduced in Grades K-2 when students are also studying data collection in science and mathematics. Using easily observable requirements (e.g., numbers, size, texture, weight, and motion), students will identify, categorize, and
compare different kinds of technologies. In Grades K-2, students should use this collected information to determine whether a product generally produces positive or negative results. For example, students could examine the use of disposable food containers in local fast food restaurants. In this activity, students could list the positive attributes (e.g., makes the lines go faster and gets rid of the need for washing dishes)
and negative attributes (e.g., produces a lot of trash) of these containers. Such
experiences can help students to begin to develop a critical eye for technology.
As part of learning how to assess the impact of products and systems, students in Grades K-2 should be able to
A. Collect information about everyday products and systems by asking questions.Examples of some questions are: What are they? Why are they important? Can they be recycled? What is the cost? Where do they fit into everyone’s lives? How do they affect daily life?
B. Determine if the human use of a product or system creates positive or negative results.Examples could be the positive or negative effects of using televisions, toys, bicycles, games, dolls, and the Internet.
G R A D E S
K-2
Assess the Impact of Products and Systems
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tudents in Grades 3-5 will have anopportunity to assess technology from personal, family, community, and economic points of view. In assessing technology, students take a step toward becoming self-reliant, independent thinkers. Furthermore, in learning to assess technology, students will develop skills in comparing, contrasting, and classifying collected data, and they will then use that data to make decisions.Gathering information involves making investigations and observations about the use of technology and then recording the observations in an appropriate manner. Knowing how to gather data requires students to use skills from other areas — notably science skills, like observation, and language-arts skills, such as note taking, outlining, and informative writing. Students should explore how technology influences individuals, families, com- munities, and the environment. As students study the significant events that helped to shape their communities, they lay the groundwork for discussing and learning about the development and future use of technological products and systems. They should learn to recognize the trade-offs implicit in any technology and to weigh those trade-offs to determine whether the positive outcomes of a product or system will outweigh its negative consequences.
As part of learning how to assess the impact of products and systems, students in Grades 3-5 should be able to
C. Compare, contrast, and classify collected information in order to identify patterns. Information, such as cost, function, and warranties, could be collected on certain products, such as toys, food, games, health products, school supplies, and clothes, or on larger systems, such as
transportation or communication.
D. Investigate and assess the influence of a specific technology on the individual, family, community, and environment. Examples of this could be the family car, microwave oven, clothing, processed food, electric power plants, or passenger airplanes.
E. Examine the trade-offs of using a product or system and decide when it could be used.It is important to decide which problems the products or systems are solving and which ones they may create. For example, a question that may be examined is: “Should cars be used?”
G R A D E S
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V I G N E T T E
This vignette presents a real-life problem of an oil spill. Students are challenged to solve the problem by trying out different activities in the laboratory-classroom. Students should be able to assess the impact of the oil spill. [This vignette highlights some elements of Grades 3-5 STL
standards that provide connections to Standards 3, 5, 6, 10, 13, 16, and 18.]
Ms. G, a fifth-grade teacher, presented her class with a challenge. “On April 5, an oil tanker, Radical, sideswiped an iceberg, causing 15 tons of oil to spill into the ocean. You are chosen to join an elite team of scientists to devise a way to clean up the oil spill.”
Ms. G then divided the students into groups of four to five members. Each group received a pie pan with one inch of water in it and a small piece of fake fur. Ms. G instructed the students to begin the experiment by placing the fur in the water, and then she used an eyedropper to add a
tablespoon of oil to the water in each pan. The students observed what happened and recorded these observations in their journals. The teacher stimulated their thinking by asking questions, such as “Do the oil and water mix? How many layers do you see? What happened to the oil?” The students then estimated the size of the oil spill.
Next, the students received paper towels, cotton balls, toilet tissue, string, coffee filters, and rubber bands. Ms. G then challenged them to use these materials to try to contain the oil in a small area and to clean up the oil spill as much as possible. The students worked together as teams to design a method, and they recorded their observations, their successes, and their not-so-successful attempts in their journals. Ms. G then led the class in a discussion of the various methods that the students had developed. They discussed the problems that they had encountered in developing a solution and how they had overcome the obstacles. The teacher then asked the students to observe the piece of fur and to describe in their journals how the fake fur had changed and to imagine how oil on an animal’s fur might affect its survival. Ms. G then added several drops of detergent to the experimental oil spill, and again she asked the students to write their observations in their journals. Ms. G concluded the exercise by discussing the importance of petroleum and oil in everyone’s life. She also explained the short- and long-term impacts that an oil spill can have on the environment. She shared with them several real-life stories of tanker accidents, the clean-up procedures, the damage to the environment, the community’s response to the accident, and the steps taken to design tankers that won’t spill oil. As a result of this exercise, the students learned how a technology can have both positive and negative effects on the environment.