Skip to content Skip to footer
Log in

DataNation is a fantastic resource which combines official 2011 census data with authoritative Ordnance Survey maps. You can investigate local socio-economic conditions, view, analyse and personalise this data to engender critical thinking.

  • Use DataNation to involve students in collecting data about themselves and improve understanding of a data gathering process, its purpose and benefits to society.
  • Foster a positive attitude to numbers and statistics through using real data that is of interest to students.
  • Enhance the process of statistical enquiry across the curriculum.
  • Encourage effective Information and Communication Technology (ICT) teaching and learning.
  • Provide access to large and meaningful real data sets.
  • Make comparisons between different parts of the country and seek to explore reasons for differences.
  • Use your own data, visualise and interpret.

Some ideas for using DataNation in various areas of the curriculum:

Numeracy programme Geography ICT examples
Numbers and the number system
  • Place, value, ordering and rounding
  • Properties and numbers
  • Fractions, decimals, percentages, ration and proportion
  • Enter climatic data in a spreadsheet, using decimals for temperature and upload to DataNation
  • Work out values for a map key to map data
  • Use scale
Calculations
  • Number operations and the relationship between them
  • Mental methods and rapid recall of number facts
  • Written methods
  • Calculator methods
  • Checking results
  • Calculations of population density either mentally or in a spreadsheet using a formula
  • Work out real distances from scale distances on maps, use DataNation measuring tools
  • Download census data and calculate simple measure of central tendency e.g. mean, mode, median
Solving problems
  • Predict best locations, e.g. modelling industrial location using a spreadsheet and plotting these in DataNation
  • Work out car ownership levels in new versus older neighbourhoods
Algebra
  • Equations and formulae
  • Sequences and functions
  • Graphs
  • Use formulae in a spreadsheet to work out averages (means) from a weather data logger - upload these to create maps in DataNation
  • Download DataNation census data and graph in a spreadsheet
Shape, space and measures
  • Lines and angles
  • Properties and shapes
  • Transformations
  • Co-ordinates
  • Construction
  • Measures
  • DataNation to measure distance and area
  • Use to learn about co-ordinates (OS grids and latitude and longitude)
Handling data
  • Specifying a problem
  • Planning and collecting data
  • Processing data
  • Representing data and interpreting and discussing results
  • Probability
  • Enquiry work that collects raw data, e.g. of river flow and upload to DataNation
  • Process and present raw data from DataNation using statistics and graphing functions in a spreadsheet
  • Information to interpret data
  • Presenting quantitative data on maps via DataNation