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integrated computational thinking

Patterns & Data 2: Patterns & Data Unplugged

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Step 1 of 7: Visualizing Data

How can you find meaning in data? You need to be able to identify patterns in that data! Observing patterns allows you to see when something goes as planned or behaves unexpectedly. Depending on how data is presented can impact how easy it is to find those patterns and bring meaning to them.

This table and graph show the same dataset: US unemployment claims*. While studying the data, consider the two questions below:

*Please note that the table only shows a snippet of the dataset due to the size of the table. The rest of the table can be seen at this link after you click “submit”*

☞ Which is easier to understand?

☞ Which is more compact?

☞ Which has more detail?