Data Worksheets
Python notebooks, like those we’ve compiled here, are a valuable tool for analyzing data, but they can also be used to engage students in educational activities. One of our long-term goals of the Ocean Data Labs project is to experiment new notebook formats that can support student exploration in data, while also assessing their work.
The advantage of Python notebooks is that students can process data on the fly, creating their own graphs in response to guided inquiry prompts. Notebooks are also useful for educators who wish to regularly update notebooks (for example, with the latest datasets each semester), adapt them to their local audience (for example, by utilizing nearby weather stations), or for providing classes with multiple datasets (e.g. for supporting jigsaw activities, or to promote independent work which can’t be copied).
Here is a collection of some of the notebooks our community has contributed.
Fun With Analyzing Ocean Data, 2020
Katie McDonnell, Rutgers University Undergraduate Student
In this example Data Worksheet activity, students explore a week, a month, a year, and over 10 years of Sea Surface Temperature data from a coastal station in Atlantic City, and they can also compare the data from that station to more data from Key West. This worksheet is available both as a document and as a Python notebook for easy adaption to other time periods or stations.
