Educational content ideas/data sets: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 07:41, 2 June 2008

For other ideas, see Educational content ideas

Interesting Data Sets

I know of Internet resources that present interesting data sets. But I don't undestand copyright laws enough to know if these sets can be incorporated into the OLPC project, so I'll just give examples of what I mean:

Positions of Stars in the sky
Contours of continents (GIS data)
Chemical Elements Tables: http://www.geocities.com/ajmas/docs/atomicelements
Data sets collected by Gleducar: http://wiki.gleducar.org.ar/wiki/Datos_como_materia_prima_de_aprendizaje
Data sets collected by Edusig (Python in Education): http://wiki.python.org/moin/EduSig/DataResources
The value of PI to a millon places: http://neoparaiso.com/logo/valor-de-pi.html
Table of Prime factors: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_prime_factors
Common Names of People: http://wiki.gleducar.org.ar/wiki/Nombres_Propios_de_Personas
Spanish last names: http://wiki.gleducar.org.ar/wiki/Lista_de_Apellidos
Solar System Planet statistics: http://wiki.gleducar.org.ar/wiki/Datos_sobre_los_Planetas
Geopolitical Statistics: http://www.xist.org/default1.aspx
UNICEF Maps concerning children (spanish): http://www.unicef.org/spanish/sowc05/maps.html
Dinosaurs Data files: http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/nature-online/dino-directory/about-teachers.dsml (not open)
Nutritional Content of Different types of food: http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=8964
Roller Coaster Stats (to study energy conversion)
Species Evolution Trees
Species Statistics: estimated numbers of individuals, geographic location
The Powers of 10 tutorial: http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/
Natural Disasters Statistics: Type, How many people affected, Affected regions, Dates (is "disaster" the right word?)
Properties of Elements and Natural Substances: uses
Most often used words in a language
Words that rhyme
Collections of words with ortographic or phonetic properties
Timelines: technology advances, evolution, life forms, creation of continents, planetary formation, human evolution, philosophycal movements. Like: the Histomap of World History, Compact timeline of global history

Heights of Skyscrapers: http://www.skyscraperpage.com/ (might be insulting to poor countries)

Miscfiles: http://directory.fsf.org/GNU/miscfiles.html

(Or localized alternatives)

connectives (prepositions, pronouns, and the like)
web2- Webster's Second International English wordlist
web2a- Webster's Second Internations appendix english wordlist
propernames- some common proper names
airport- list of three letter codes for some major airports
birthtoken- traditional stone and flower for each month
inter.phone- international country telephone codes
cities.dat- geographic coordinates of many major cities
postal.codes- postal codes for US and Mexican states and
languages- two-letter codes for languages, from ISO 639
currency- currency abbreviations and names
countries- country abbreviations and names and capital cities
jargon.html- The Jargon file (same as the _Hacker's_Dictionary_)
us-constitution- The Constitution of the United States of America
us-declaration- The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies

Project Gutenberg Data: http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/categories/8

Other Data Sets available

Many environmental agencies and monitoring groups are putting their data online. This could be particularly important for students in developing nations, where poverty is often coupled with environmental problems. Older students can use this data to learn about the environment and even write their own scientific papers. One example of this kind of database can be found here: http://sev.lternet.edu/projects.php?meid=15, although there are many others. Their numbers continue to grow, especially since NSF encourages data sharing: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/broaderimpacts.pdf.

Collaborative Projects to Join

Science and Math Projects from CIESE: http://www.k12science.org/collabprojs.html

Collaborative and real time data projects for K-12 science and math education. Includes the following projects for Spring and Fall:

Down the Drain: How Much Water Do You Use?
The International Boiling Point Project
Human Genetics: A Worldwide Search for the Dominant Trait
The Global Water Sampling Project
The Global Sun/Temperature Project
Square of Life: Studies in Local and Global Environments
Bucket Buddies
Take a Dip
Mission to Eros: Rendezvous with an Asteroid
Noonday Project: Measuring the Circumference of the Earth

General

Central Intelligence Agency: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html

The World Fact Book 2002. Collect and analyze data about different counteries.

U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/

Excel files throughout the site depending on the topic you are looking for.

Federal Reserve, Economic Data: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred/

FedStats: http://www.fedstats.gov/

The gateway to statistics from over 100 U.S. Federal agencies

StatLib: Datasets Archive:http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/datasets/

From the Carnegie Mellon University Statistics Department. Datasets from articles and books, and other sets submitted by readers.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ''For other ideas, see [[Educational content ideas]]''
-===Interesting Data Sets===
+==Interesting Data Sets==
 I know of Internet resources that present interesting data sets. But I don't undestand copyright laws enough to know if these sets can be incorporated into the OLPC project, so I'll just give examples of what I mean:
+;Positions of Stars in the sky:
-;The value of PI to 10000 places: http://mondragon.angeltowns.net/paradiso/ValorDePi.html
+;Contours of continents ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system GIS] data):
-;The first 10000 prime numbers : http://www.aprendelibre.net/wiki/index.php/10000_Primeros_N%C3%BAmeros_Primos
+;Chemical Elements Tables:http://www.geocities.com/ajmas/docs/atomicelements
+;Data sets collected by Gleducar: http://wiki.gleducar.org.ar/wiki/Datos_como_materia_prima_de_aprendizaje
+;Data sets collected by Edusig (Python in Education):http://wiki.python.org/moin/EduSig/DataResources
+;The value of PI to a millon places: http://neoparaiso.com/logo/valor-de-pi.html
 ;Table of Prime factors : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_prime_factors
-;Common Names of People: http://www.aprendelibre.net/wiki/index.php/Nombres_Propios_de_Personas
+;Common Names of People: http://wiki.gleducar.org.ar/wiki/Nombres_Propios_de_Personas
+;Spanish last names: http://wiki.gleducar.org.ar/wiki/Lista_de_Apellidos
-;Solar System Planet statistics : http://www.aprendelibre.net/wiki/index.php/Datos_sobre_los_Planetas
+;Solar System Planet statistics : http://wiki.gleducar.org.ar/wiki/Datos_sobre_los_Planetas
 ;Geopolitical Statistics:http://www.xist.org/default1.aspx
 ;UNICEF Maps concerning children (spanish):http://www.unicef.org/spanish/sowc05/maps.html
 ;Dinosaurs Data files:http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/nature-online/dino-directory/about-teachers.dsml (not open)
-;Nutritional Content of Different types of food
+;Nutritional Content of Different types of food:http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=8964
 ;Roller Coaster Stats (to study energy conversion)
 ;Species Evolution Trees
@@ Line 45: / Line 50: @@
 * us-declaration- The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
-;Project Gutenberg Data: http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/categories/8
+;[[Project Gutenberg]] Data: http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/categories/8
+==Other Data Sets available==
-  I'd say that data sets will be more useful if they relate to how a family and small community
-will use information to change their lives.  While knowing some things may be interesting in the abstract,
+Many environmental agencies and monitoring groups are putting their data online.  This could be particularly important for students in developing nations, where poverty is often coupled with environmental problems.  Older students can use this data to learn about the environment and even write their own scientific papers.  One example of this kind of database can be found here: http://sev.lternet.edu/projects.php?meid=15, although there are many others.  Their numbers continue to grow, especially since NSF encourages data sharing: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/broaderimpacts.pdf.
-a family where each has one shirt and maybe one meal per day, will be more interested in how this
-technology will help them change that situation.  So, knowlege sets should be structured to enable
+===Collaborative Projects to Join===
-families to understand usable technology that can enable their available resources.  A knowlege of
-medicinal plants and illness will be more useful than knowledge of the pharaceutical industry.  A
+;Science and Math Projects from CIESE : http://www.k12science.org/collabprojs.html
-knowledge of AIDS transmission as well as malaria, etc, will be more useful than a knowledge of
+Collaborative and real time data projects for K-12 science and math education.  Includes the following projects for Spring and Fall:
-"Live AID", etc.   A knowlege of soil biology will be more useful than the history of Con-Agra, etc.
-Knowledge is not really trivia, but instead understanding how physical and social process work.  So,
+*Down the Drain: How Much Water Do You Use?
-what is probably needed is a guide to useful knowledge appropriate to the particular social situation.
+*The International Boiling Point Project
-That means that guides should show how knowledge is related, and structure knowledge aquisition from the
+*Human Genetics: A Worldwide Search for the Dominant Trait
-general, common knowledge the community already has, to new, specific applications of that knowledge using
+*The Global Water Sampling Project
-the tools the computer can bring or link to.  Teaching tools related to environment and human impact and energy efficiency deal with long-term changes that must start small.  Appropriate technology such as creative use of fiber, metals, and other materials will be useful.  How to make bio-gas generators and paper would be useful.
+*The Global Sun/Temperature Project
-An extremely large number of people deal with these issues everyday, and the computerized information can help them see relationships and provide technical guidance that they can use.
+*Square of Life: Studies in Local and Global Environments
+*Bucket Buddies
+*Take a Dip
+*Mission to Eros: Rendezvous with an Asteroid
+*Noonday Project: Measuring the Circumference of the Earth
+===General===
+;Central Intelligence Agency:http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
+The World Fact Book 2002.  Collect and analyze data about different counteries.
+;U.S. Census Bureau:http://www.census.gov/
+Excel files throughout the site depending on the topic you are looking for.
+;Federal Reserve,  Economic Data:http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred/
+;FedStats:http://www.fedstats.gov/
+The gateway to statistics from over 100 U.S. Federal agencies
+;StatLib: Datasets Archive:http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/datasets/
+From the Carnegie Mellon University Statistics Department. Datasets from articles and books, and other sets submitted by readers.