Assessment Brief

Goals
It is common to see graphs in news stories because graphs give
a lot of information in a small amount of space.
For this project, you will analyze graphs that appear in
news articles.
First you’ll find news articles containing graphs. Then
you’ll draw conclusions from the graphs. Finally you’ll reflect on your findings.
Project Instructions
Before beginning, review the sample project so that you
understand what you’ll be creating.
Project Research
1.     Find four news articles, each containing a graph of data.
·        
Find articles on the
Internet, in newspapers, and/or in magazines. The articles can be current or
out of date. (Do not use the articles or graphs that are in the sample
project.)
·        
Try to find a variety of
graph types. Graph types can be, but do not have to be, the same types you have
studied in this course.
·        
Tip 1: You can find some news websites by searching “top news
websites.” Look for companies that have an offline newspaper as well, such as
the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
·        
Tip 2: The science, technology, money, and health sections of both
online and offline newspapers tend to have more graphs than the breaking news
and current events sections.
2.     Open your presentation and type your name on slide 1. On slides
2, 4, 6, and 8:
·        
Cite the source by filling
in the top lines with the required information.
·        
Upload an image of the
graph. If you found the article on the Internet, copy and paste a screenshot of
the graph. If you found the article in a newspaper or a magazine, upload a
picture or a scan of the graph.
Project Writing
Before you begin writing, complete the Lesson Checkpoint, an
online, ungraded assessment. You’ll practice analyzing graphs—a skill essential
to completing your project. Reach out to your teacher with any questions you
have after taking this Lesson Checkpoint.
On slides 3, 5, 7, and 9:
·        
Write a brief summary of
each news article.
·        
Draw three conclusions from
the graph that appeared in each news article. See the sample project for
examples of the types of conclusions you might draw.
Project Reflection
Look back over all your graphs and articles and complete
slide 10 by choosing two of the following:
·        
Tell which of your graphs
was most helpful to the story it went with and why.
·        
Tell which of your graphs
was least helpful to the story it went with and why.
·        
Tell which graph you found
most interesting and why.
·        
Tell how a graph was
misleading or incomplete, if applicable.
Submission
Confirm that your presentation contains all your work:
·        
Source information for each
of 4 articles
·        
A graph from each article
·        
Three conclusions drawn
from each graph
·        
Your reflection discussion
Submit your project to your teacher.