Year 8 Science · Unit 4 · Lesson 14
Challenge Worksheet
Learning Goals
Compare the sources
Complete the comparison table for three kinds of data source. Fill in every blank cell.
| Feature | Primary source | Secondary source | Digital-footprint data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who collects it? | |||
| Give one example | |||
| One strength | |||
| One risk or limitation |
Scenario
A research team wants to study how people moved around a city during a heatwave. They can buy anonymised, aggregated location data drawn from millions of phones. A council member asks: "Is this science, or is it spying on residents?" Use the questions below to build your answer.
(a) Explain how anonymisation and aggregation let researchers study movement without identifying any single person. Use a worked example of a result that protects privacy.
(b) Describe where the line falls between ethical research and surveillance. Give one use of this data that would be ethical and one that would cross the line, and explain the difference.
(c) A government dataset and a viral social-media chart both claim to show the heatwave data. Explain in 2-3 sentences how you would decide which source is reliable, and why reliability matters before drawing a conclusion.
Wrap Up
In one sentence, why does combining your own primary data with a trusted secondary source make a conclusion stronger?