Empowering Students to Use Data to Understand Election Trends

COVID-19. Climate crisis. Economic inequality. Racial justice. Immigration.

These are just a few of the topics most important to voters in the United States leading up to the 2020 presidential election, according to the Pew Research Center. Every four years, we enter a new presidential election season that shapes the course of the country for decades to come. The election of a president means not only a new or re-elected person in the highest office in the nation, but also other political appointments.

For students in grades 6-12, learning about voting trends and election data can help them to understand how elections influence our lives. With no-cost content from Discover Data – an education initiative powered by the Nielsen Foundation in collaboration with Discovery Education and the Afterschool Alliance – students and educators now have critical learning resources at their fingertips to seamlessly integrate into classrooms.

Deepen the conversation about elections with the “Understanding Election Cycles” resources designed give educators the opportunity to integrate real-world data sets into their existing curriculum. The activity spans ELA, math, and science as students investigate voting participation rates in elections, the impact of advanced data on campaign advertisements, and the evolving impact of media consumption and election information. By comparing and contrasting sets of data, students can pose questions and evaluate claims related to elections, providing practice for future understanding of election cycles and their impact as voters. A new Educator Webinar also includes information about how to use Discover Data activities in remote classrooms.

For Discovery Education Experience users, keep the learning going with the new 48 Days channel.  Named for the number of days between Constitution Day and Election Day, this channel showcases 48 instructional resources, virtual field trips, videos, podcasts, songs, and audio books across grade bands designed to help students better understand their constitutional rights and the important issues related to this year’s election. With these resources, educators can inspire student agency and remind students about the importance of their voices, whether or not they are old enough to vote. Featured resources include Discovery Education original content, as well as content from trusted partners such as Discovery Channel, BESE, Newsy, Cheddar K-12, World Wildlife Fund, and the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation.

Find even more free content to keep your class engaged on essential topics centered around the critical role data plays in our world. Discover all the resources at DiscoverDatainSchool.com and through Discovery Education Experience.