What’s Going On in This Graph

Today the New York Times Learning Network dropped the first “What’s Going On in This Graph?” (WGOITG) of the new school year. This feature started last year as a monthly piece, but now expands to a weekly release. In WGOITG, an infographic from a previous NYT article is shown with the title, and perhaps some other salient details, stripped away – like this week’s graph…

Challenge your students to list some things they notice and wonder about the graph, and visit the NYT August post to discover how teachers use WGOITG in their classrooms. Here are some ideas I have used before with my 9th graders:

• Have groups work in pairs to write a title and lede (brief introduction) to accompany the graph.
• Ask tables to develop a short list of bullet points facts which are supported by the graph, and share out on note cards.
• Have students consider how color, sizing, scaling are used in effective ways to support the story (note how the size of the arrows play a role in the graph shown here). This is a wonderful opportunity to think of statistics beyond traditional graphs and measures.

Invite your students to join in the moderated conversation, which drops on Thursday. Have your own favorite way to use WGOITG? Share it in the comments!