The and have run stories today about CensusAtSchool.
What are Kiwi kids鈥� most common food allergies? What time do they go to sleep at night? How long can they stand on their left leg with their eyes closed?
Thousands of students aged between 10 and 18 (Year 5 to Year 13) are due to start answering these questions 鈥� and a host of others about their lives 鈥� when the online CensusAtSchool 2013 begins on Monday, May 6, the first day of the new term.
So far,聽466 schools聽have registered to take part. Co-director Rachel Cunliffe says that teachers will administer the census in class between May 6 and June 14. The聽32-question survey, available in English and M膩ori, aims to raise students鈥� interest in statistics and provide a fascinating picture of what they are thinking, feeling and doing.
鈥淎 good way to engage students in mathematics and statistics is to start from a place that鈥檚 familiar to them 鈥� their own lives and the lives of their friends,鈥� says Cunliffe, a University of Auckland-trained statistician and owner of several internet enterprises. 鈥淪tudents love taking part in the activities and then, in class with their teachers, becoming 鈥渄ata detectives鈥� to see what stories are in the results 鈥� and not just in their own classroom, but across the country.鈥�
Students are being asked for the first time about food allergies to reflect the lack of data on the issue, says Cunliffe. “Students will be able to explore the dataset to compare the prevalence of self-reported allergies for different ages, ethnicities and sexes.鈥�
CensusAtSchool, now in its sixth edition, is a biennual collaborative project involving teachers, the University of Auckland鈥檚 Department of Statistics, Statistics New Zealand and the Ministry of Education. It is part of an international effort to boost statistical capability among young people, and is carried out in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, the US, Japan and South Africa.
Andrew Tideswell, manager of the Statistics New Zealand Education Team, says our statistics curriculum is world-leading, and CensusAtSchool helps teachers and students get the most out of it. 鈥淏y engaging in CensusAtSchool, students have an experience that mirrors the structure of the national census, and it encourages them to think about the need for information and ways we might use it to solve problems,鈥� he says. 鈥淪tudents develop the statistical literacy they need if New Zealand is to be an effective democracy where citizens can use statistics to make informed decisions.”
Westlake Girls High School maths teacher Dru Rose is planning for about 800 Year 9 and 10 students to take part. She鈥檚 keen to see the data that will emerge from questions about how many hours of homework students did the night before and how many hours sleep they had. 鈥淚t鈥檚 real-life stuff,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e鈥檒l be able to examine the data and see if there are any links.鈥�
Tuesday,聽March 5th is the official NZ census.
The census is the official count of how many people and dwellings there are in New Zealand.聽 It takes a snapshot of the people in New Zealand and the places wehre we live.聽 The last census was held in 2006.聽 Census information is needed for planning vital public services such as education, health, housing and transport.聽 It is also used to help understand how our society changes over time.
By law everyone in New Zealand on census day must fill in a census form for the dwelling in which they are staying that evening.聽 Check that your students know this and go home and remind their family members to fill in the form.聽 Alternatively, they can complete their census forms online at
Statistics New Zealand
Statistics New Zealand is New Zealand’s national statistical office, collecting and publishing information the country needs to grow and prosper for nearly 120 years.聽 You can find lots of information about New Zealand and New Zealander’s on the Statistics New Zealand website (www.stats.govt.nz), including information about businesses, population, health, and employment.
There are resources available for teachers and students at www.stats.govt.nz/schoolscorner, including the new game, Tere counts the country.
‘Tere the Tui: Tere counts the country’ 聽is a new, free learning game, designed by Statistics New Zealand to help familiarise children with New Zealand statistics as well as statistical terms.
Players answer multi-choice questions about each region of New 聽Zealand, finding answers in the tool Interactive Boundary Maps.
When players have correctly answered a question about each region they can choose to go in the draw to win one of 200 Census branded USB sticks.
Tere counts the country can be played by children in the classroom or at home.
2013 is the International Year of Statistics, a worldwide event supported by nearly 1,700 organizations!
The founding organizations of the International Year of Statistics鈥攁lso called Statistics2013鈥攁re the , , , (and the ), and . As established by the founding organizations, the campaign鈥檚 primary objectives are to do the following:
- Increase public awareness of the power and impact of statistics on all aspects of society
- Nurture statistics as a profession, especially among young people
- Promote creativity and development in the sciences of probability and statistics
Visit the website, and promote Statistics as a tool for life (and possibly a career option!).
A number of data sets are now available in csv format for you to use with your class when investigating time series data at NZ Curriculum Level 8 (or AS 3.8).
Data sets include: NZ Alcohol consumption, Births, Rainfall, Travel and Tourism, Accomodation, Air Passengers and temperatures around the world.
Click here to go to the resource: Time series data sets 2013, 聽Time series data sets 2012, and iNZight instructions for time series.
On December 1, the Wellington Mathematical Association (WMA) and the Department of Statistics ran a special event atTWellington Girls鈥� College for Year 13 statistics teachers. Find out more about the statistics road tour聽here.
Some photos from the event are below:
If you went along, we鈥檇 love to hear your feedback!
The (NZAMT) have set聽a date for the 2013 biennial conference,
Absolutely Positively Mathematics and Statistics, Wellington Girls’ College,
1st – 4th October 2013.
Have聽a look at their for information about presenters, registration and accomodation.聽 Registrations open on the 1st of February 2013.
All teachers of mathematics and statistics, and all workers in mathematics and statistics, are warmly invited聽to join聽for four days of being absolutely positive about our learning area.
On November 28, the Otago Mathematical Association (OMA) and the Department of Statistics ran a special event at The University of Otago for Year 13 statistics teachers. Find out more about the statistics road tour here.
Some photos from the event are below:
If you went along, we鈥檇 love to hear your feedback!
Today, the聽聽(CMA) and the聽聽ran a special event at The University of Canterbury for Year 13 statistics teachers. Find out more about the statistics road tour聽here.
Some photos from the event are below:
The (AMA) and the ran a special event at The University of Auckland鈥檚 Tamaki campus for 350 Year 13 statistics teachers. Statistics Teachers鈥� Day, on November 22, introduced the teachers to a range of online and interactive tools and resources to聽support the new statistics curriculum, which starts in the 2013 school year. The workshop聽will be repeated in Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, with local maths associations running each event. Find out more about the statistics road tour here.
See photos and read teachers’ feedback from the day:
Jason Ellwood of Otumoetai College talks bootstrapping at聽Statistics Teachers鈥� Day.
Photo: Stephen Barker,聽. 漏The University of Auckland.
Sharleen Forbes of Victoria University outlines statistics education past, present and future in the plenary session of Statistics Teachers鈥� Day.
Photo: Stephen Barker,聽. 漏The University of Auckland.
Simon Webster,
ACG New Zealand International College:
鈥淲hat stood out for me was the plenary talk by Sharleen Forbes [Adjunct Professor of Official Statistics, School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington], which gave us pointers to where things are heading [in statistics]. That appeals to the futurist in me.鈥�