Year 9 Science · Unit 4 · Lesson 11

Using a Large Dataset to Develop and Test a Question

Foundation Worksheet

Name

Date

Class

Learning Goals

Identify the steps of the secondary-data workflow used to turn a dataset into an answer.
Recognise that rows are records and columns are variables in a dataset.
Use key vocabulary: large dataset, secondary data, variable, record, metadata, cleaning, outlier.

Warm Up

Sort it!

Write each example from the pool into the correct box. Decide whether each one is data you collected yourself (primary) or data collected by someone else that you reuse (secondary).

Timing your own ice cube melting in class A Bureau of Meteorology rainfall file Counting cars you see in one hour yourself Australian Bureau of Statistics Census data Measuring plant height in your own garden A downloaded dataset from data.gov.au Recording your own class's heart rates Species sightings from the Atlas of Living Australia

Primary data

Secondary data

Your Turn

Fill the gap

Choose the correct word from the word bank to complete each sentence. Two words will not be used.

secondary columns rows cleaning outlier metadata explore primary opinion

Data that someone else has collected and you reuse, such as a weather file, is called data. In a dataset, the variables are stored in the , while each record or observation is stored in one of the . Before you can ask a question, the first step is to the dataset to see what variables it holds. The information about who collected the data, when, and what each column means is called the . Finding and fixing missing values, errors and duplicates before analysis is called the data. A value far outside the expected range, such as a temperature of 250 degrees, is called an .

Show What You Know

1. A dataset has columns: date, max temperature, rainfall, ice-creams sold. State what one row of this dataset represents, and name two of its variables.

Recall 2 marks

2. Write the first three steps of the secondary-data workflow you would follow when you are handed a large dataset.

Recall 2 marks

Wrap Up

In one sentence, what was the main idea of this lesson?