Canada Data Map

  • Canada Data Map

    Grade: 3rd to 5th, 6th to 8th, High School

    Information can be represented in many ways, and this applet allows the user to represent data about the provinces and territories using colors. The region with the highest data value is darkest; other regions are shaded proportionally. Investigate any of the data provided — or enter data of your own!

    Activity

    Instructions

    Each province and territory in the map below is shaded a percentage of color proportional to the largest data for any region. Using the Population data set, for example, Ontario (population 12,541,400) is shaded at 100%, because it has the greatest population; but Alberta (population 3,256,500) is only shaded at 26%, because 3,256,500 ÷ 12,541,400 ≈ 0.26.

    Features

    • Choose a Data Set button (located at the top of the interactive) to view various data. Alternatively, enter values for each region in the table; then, click Update Map to view the results.
    • The Clear Data button can be used to replace all data with X's. An X indicates that there is no data entered for that state, and data for that state will not influence the mean or five-number summary. (By contrast, a data value of "0" will influence the measures of center.) Click Hide Map Numbers to remove the data from the map. (The data will still be displayed in the table, however.)
    • Change the color of the shading by selecting a different color from the Map Color pull-down menu.
    • The Hide Map Numbers button will toggle between displaying and not displaying values on the map.

    Exploration

    Select the Data Set for Land Area. As expected, regions that look bigger are a darker color, because larger regions have more area.

    An attribute that is not obvious by visual inspection is the population. Choose Population from the Data Sets menu. Do the largest regions have the largest populations?

    Now, combine these two elements by opening the Data Set for Population Density. You'll notice that most of the regions appear in a very light shade. Can you explain why that happens?

    Objectives and Standards

    NCTM Standards and Expectations
    • Probability / Data Analysis and Statistics
    • 3-5
    • 6-8
    • High School (9-12)
    • Data Analysis and Probability