Explore data and meet Kiki and her family of endangered orcas!

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Meet Kiki, a 6-year-old Southern Resident orca living in the Salish Sea. She is a member of the Southern Resident orca population which has been declining in numbers to the point of being listed as an endangered species. What are the factors contributing to this decline? Let’s use data to explore this question.

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Orca swimming just under the surface of the water. Image courtesy of Karoline and Gary Cullen.

Data science is an essential 21st century skill and one of the fastest growing fields. Through the Day of Data program, introduce your students to important data skills using engaging interdisciplinary subjects. With Day of Data: Orcas, coming soon on World Orca Day (July 14th), students engage with data to better understand Kiki, her family, and factors contributing to the decline of the Southern Resident orca population.  These self-contained, standards-aligned lessons are suitable for in class, remote, and hybrid learning. 

“We need to teach data literacy in order to prepare our students for the future workforce.”

Middle School Educator

Using the Day of Data: Orcas lessons, students will learn transferrable data literacy skills. Students conduct data-driven research and analysis while interacting with multiple sources of data including data types powered by Wolfram. Students use this information to provide evidence for explanations and to generate new questions that can be answered using data.

Today’s learners will enter a world defined by data. Analyzing and extracting key insights from data will become necessary and expected skills for the workforce of the future. Prepare your students by tapping into their creativity and curiosity with Microsoft Hacking STEM – go swimming with the orcas!

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/education-blog/explore-data-and-meet-kiki-and-her-family-of-endangered-orcas/ba-p/2499405 https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/education-blog/explore-data-and-meet-kiki-and-her-family-of-endangered-orcas/ba-p/2499405 2021-06-30 15:31:12Z