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Data Science and AI Academy

Data Stories in the Classroom: Resources for Teaching and Learning

We shine a light on North Carolina educators enriching their content and their students’ education with data and AI.

The Data Science and AI Academy highlights and supports teachers across North Carolina who are bringing data, data science, and AI skills to their classrooms. Are you, or someone you know, working to build early foundational data skills among your students by using data to enrich student learning? Tell us your story and share resources with other educators.  

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Whether you are helping young learners recognize patterns and trends in the weather or temperature, collecting and analyzing data in your science class, or exploring different and interesting ways to visualize data in art, we would love to spotlight you and your data science and AI education materials on this page and in our quarterly newsletter!

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Teaching and Learning Resources

From lesson plans and sample data sets to professional development and data science and AI curriculum guidance, browse our ever-growing collection of educator and student resources.

Lesson Plans Submitted by NC Educators

Organize your lessons and resources effortlessly with our lesson plan template!

Learning with Data – PFAS Water Contamination

  • Created by: Taryn Shelton, NCSU DSA
  • Grade(s): 8th – 12th
  • Subject(s): Science, Social Studies, Math

This lesson is designed to walk students through the data-wrangling process. Students learn how to clean up raw datasets to get them ready for analysis. It is intended as a case study approach to encourage students to decide how they may want to analyze the data. The case study focuses on PFAS levels at various water collection sites along the Cape Fear River. It is a simple dataset with only 3 variables and introduces students to the CODAP platform for low-entry analysis. The Teacher Guide offers suggestions for group activities and ideas about their possible datasets that students can use to look for correlations and to build a data story.

How did it go?:
Using local data played a powerful role in driving engagement. Students felt a deeper connection because the information was directly relevant to their community. The local context encouraged them to take ownership of their learning and inspired them to ask deeper, more thoughtful questions. Additionally, by drawing and naming their own river organisms, the My River: An Introduction to PFAS activity personalized the lesson, built student agency, and made the data investigation more meaningful.

Learning with Data – NC Survey on Human Health and the Environment

  • Created by: Taryn Shelton, NCSU DSA
  • Grade(s): 8th – 12th
  • Subject(s): Science, Social Studies, Math

This lesson is designed to walk students through the data-wrangling process. Students learn how to clean up raw datasets to get them ready for analysis. It is intended as a case study approach to encourage students to decide how they may want to analyze the data. The case study focuses on the results from the 2021 and 2022 NC Surveys on Human Health and the Environment. These datasets are more complex, using Likert Scale data and a large number of variables (100+). The lesson introduces students to the CODAP platform for low-entry analysis. The Teacher Guide offers suggestions for group activities and ideas about other possible datasets that students can use to look for correlations and to build a data story.

How did it go?:
This lesson was presented to 8th-grade through high school science teachers during a professional development workshop. The teachers appreciated the community-based relevance of the data and the ease of use of the CODAP platform. They found the data cleaning process easy to follow, but did struggle during some parts of the analysis, particularly with making decisions about how to analyze the data.

Public Health Data Science Lesson

  • Created by: Megan Lenaghan, Pioneer Springs Community School
  • Grades 6-8 
  • Subject(s): Math (primary), cross over with Social Studies

These paired lessons introduce students to the basics of public health data science through a hands-on exploration of survey design and real-world data analysis. Using data from a 2021 CHHE survey on social media use, students first learn what surveys are, why they’re used, especially in government and public health, and how to create and interpret simple data visualizations. In the second lesson, students use the CODAP platform to explore actual adult survey responses, compare them to their class trends, and reflect on assumptions versus evidence. Together, the lessons emphasize statistical thinking, digital literacy, and civic relevance.  

How did it go?

We had a very long discussion about whether or not YouTube was social media. They never thought of it that way, which was interesting. Some kids were surprised that adults were on social media as often as they were, and others said that their parents were on it more than they were. It was interesting to see the different opinions, even with the kids. I think the initial formatting was overwhelming, but they did well with explanations. You really need to laser focus on your takeaways and the strengths and growth areas of your audience. I will say, though, that they stayed engaged!

PFAS Mystery – Finding the Source

  • Created by: Tommy Johnson, Carolina Friends School
  • Grades 6-9 
  • Subject(s): Science

In this interactive environmental science lesson, students take on the role of EPA scientists investigating a mysterious PFAS contamination affecting fish and water quality near a treatment plant. Using a hands-on plume simulation and real-world-style groundwater data, students develop hypotheses, test well samples, and analyze data to trace the pollution back to its source. Along the way, they learn about point-source pollution, groundwater flow, and the real-life health impacts of Forever Chemicals. The lesson integrates data analysis, critical thinking, and environmental stewardship, culminating in student-designed citizen science projects.

Example Lessons and Activities

K-12 Data Analysis & Visualization Tools

Modeling With Data

Professional Development

Datasets

Repositories of Datasets

Census Data

Science Data

North Carolina Data

Data Science Curriculum Resources