Five Preps in Four Subjects in 6th Grade
Middle of the night insanity comes to mind as I reflect on my early years of nearly round the clock planning just to get through tomorrow.
But every cloud has a silver lining, right?!!
Mine was definitely the cross-curricular efficiencies I developed to complete all of my standards by year end.
One of my very favorite cross-curricular STREAM projects was using climate data from our Social Studies ancient cultures to practice 6th grade statistics standards. We’d then apply that statistics analysis to settlement patterns in each ancient culture.
Teaching 6th Grade Statistics
If you’re a math teacher, I’m betting you teach statistics at year end because you dread teaching it. I know I did!
My textbook did a “B-C” job of explaining how to calculate, graph, and interpret the 6th grade statistics standards that I had to teach.
The first time I taught Statistics, I was scrambling (probably in the middle of the night) to put together complete Statistics notes for my students.
In the end, I created my own set of Statistics Instructional Notes which you can preview HERE.
My Aha!! Moment
Then I had to come up with meaningful data for practice.
At just about that same time, I was discovering that the climate (temperature + precipitation) of a place is correlated with the elevation of that same place. That data relationship drove settlement patterns in ancient cultures which I wanted my students to understand.
I used elevation, temperature, and precipitation maps with my students to discover that relationship.
High Elevation = Low Temperature = High Precipitation
Low Elevation = High Temperature = Low Precipitation
💡💡 And then WHAM-O!! 💡💡
Why not use statistical analysis of climate data to confirm our map-driven conclusions?
And students got it! They saw how all that climate statistical analysis could be applied to the geography and settlement patterns in each ancient culture.
As we repeated the climate analysis for each ancient culture, students didn’t ask why. In fact, they organically started to compare data sets from various cultures.
Did anybody say higher level thinking?!!
I was over the moon to have a solid cross-curricular STREAM project I could use all year to keep 6th grade statistics skills fresh while answering essential questions about our ancient cultures!
Making it Real!
Fast forward to my second year. Statistics became a beginning of the year math unit. I taught Decimal Division and Absolute Value first as they are required skills for the statistics calculations.
I used climate data from Climate Data-org for our own location as our first data set. It provided my students with context for the climate data we’d be exploring during the rest of the year.
We created climate graphs first. It took 2-3 days of step-by-step modeling on the board to make sure axes were drawn and labeled correctly and that data was properly plotted.
Next, we moved through the statistics measures one by one. As we learned a measure, we’d practice with our local climate data. It took about two weeks to complete the entire 6th grade statistics unit.
We applied our statistical analysis to determining why settlement in our city made sense and how climate impacted our local culture.
Students now had a packet of calculations and charts to model for subsequent cultures.
I loved the paper and pencil nature of the Climate Data STREAM Activities. Drawing, coloring, and labeling in a mindful way is a great break from screens.
Practice Makes Perfect
In Social Studies, we travelled to Mesopotamia about 4-5 weeks into the school year. Fresh off our first round of statistical analysis, I distributed climate data and blank graphing templates in math class to complete independently within 1 week. Students modelled their local climate packet. By year end, most students easily finished the entire packet in just a few days.
I developed Ancient Culture Data Sets for Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, Greece, and Rome. Click on any ancient culture to Preview the Data Set.
Each Culture’s Data Set is actually a collection of 4 data sets – average monthly temperature (1) and precipitation (2) of the earliest area of settlement for that culture and the average monthly temperature (3) and precipitation (4) of the source of the major river which shaped that ancient civilization.
So for Egypt, average monthly Temperature and Precipitation data are provided for Cairo and for Bahir Dar, source of the Blue Nile River.
When we compared the temperature and precipitation data for Cairo to that of Bahir Dar, students confirmed our map analysis of the relationship between elevation, temperature, and precipitation of a place.
Statistics skills stayed fresh and meaningful all year long. And grades were generally high as a result.
By the time we hit year-end testing, stats required no formal review.
Grading was a Snap!
Climate Data packets are easy to grade. Rather than grade each student’s packet in its entirety, I find it much more efficient to grade the same page for all students.
I review and grade all of the Climate Graphs first, then all of the Measures of Central Tendency calculations, etc. Errors are easier to spot when I’m looking at the same page over and over.
Hear from teachers like you!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “This was great to use for our end of the year review to help with math. I am not a math teacher–just Social Studies–but even I could follow and implement this into the classroom!” Laura S.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “My students had a great time working on this resource. It was perfect timing after learning about Ancient Greece for civilizations. Thank you for connecting math and social studies!” Christine U.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “I have purchased all these units and find that the math teacher and I can collaborate wonderfully using the content areas.” Heather B.
Add Climate Data STREAM to your Teacher Toolbox
Low Prep – Includes Complete Data and Blank Calculation and Graphing Templates. Just add colored pencils and rulers.
Flexible – Choose the Climate Data Sets that work best with your time and curriculum. Use with Subs, Early Finishers, or for Extra Credit.
Saves you Time – Ready-to-go, STREAM project to level up your Math and Social Studies classrooms. After the first instructional packet, students work independently to complete climate data sets.
Keep 6th Grade Statistics skills fresh – be ready for year-end testing!
Complete – Covers all 6th Grade CCSS and TEKS Statistics Standards
Click HERE to see 6th Grade Statistics Climate Data Sets
Check out Additional Cross-Curricular STREAM activities HERE.
Have fun with STREAM in your classroom!
Mary
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