Lesson 12: Exploring Food Habits

Objective

You will experience the full Data Cycle, and for the first time will do so with data you have collected. You will use two tools that are easy to learn: the Dashboard and the PlotApp.

Essential Concepts

Lesson 12 Essential Concepts

Once Participatory Sensing data has been collected, the Dashboard and PlotApp perform the analysis step of the Data Cycle, though humans need to tell the computer which plots we wish to examine.

Lesson

Reflect about your experience so far with the Food Habits Participatory Sensing campaign by completing the Food Habits Check-In handout.

Click on the document name to download a fillable copy of the Food Habits Check-In handout (LMR_1.11).
Today you will engage in a full Data Cycle with your class's food habits data. You will use the Dashboard and the Plot App to generate visualizations of the variables collected about your snacks. You will then formulate and answer statistical questions that can be answered by the visualizations.
You're going to be using the Dashboard to analyze the times that surveys were submitted (time variable), your class's preference for salty or sweet snacks (salty_sweet variable), the calories in your snacks (calories variable), and the reason you ate the snack (why variable).
First let's learn how to access and navigate the Dashboard by watching this video:
Now that you've gotten an overview of how to use the Dashboard, you will be navigating the Dashboard using the Exploring Our Food Habits, Part 1 handout as a guide.

Note: If you are unable to print the handout or access it electronically, you can create a table in your IDS Journal that follows the same format.

Click on the document name to download a fillable copy of the Exploring Our Food Habits, Part 1 handout (LMR_1.12a).
Watch this video to get you started on completing LMR_1.12a Exploring Our Food Habits, Part 1:
Now it's your turn! Go to the IDS Servers page, found at https://idsucla.org/ids-servers and find your school or district's server. All of the IDS web tools can be accessed through this page. Click on Dashboard and log in if prompted. Once logged in, notice that you are redirected to the Campaign Manager. This happens so that you can select the campaign containing the data that you want to analyze. Find the Food Habits campaign and click on Dashboard.
Following are instructions for creating the visuals to analyze the variables mentioned in LMR_1.12a:
1. Plot 1: To analyze the time variable, use the Response Time histogram. If you do not see the Response Time plot, you may have to click on the blue histogram icon in the top menu bar of the Dashboard or enlarge your browser viewing space.
2. Plot 2: To analyze the salty_sweet variable, use the Salty or Sweet? donut plot. If you do not see the Salty or Sweet? plot, you may have to click on the donut plot icon in the top menu bar of the Dashboard or enlarge your browser viewing space.
3. Plot 3: To analyze the calories variable, use the Calories per Serving histogram. If you do not see the Calories per Serving plot, you may have to click on the purple histogram icon in the top menu bar of the Dashboard or enlarge your browser viewing space.
4. Plot 4: To analyze the why variable, use the Why word cloud. If you do not see the Why word cloud, you may have to click on the word cloud icon in the top menu bar of the Dashboard or enlarge your browser viewing space.
Now you will use the Plot App to analyze some other Food Habits variables. The Plot App is less rigid than the Dashboard because it allows us to create plots with more than one variable.
Let's learn how to access and navigate the Plot App to complete LMR_1.12b by watching this video:
Before you begin using the Plot App, download a copy of the Exploring Our Food Habits, Part 2 handout:

Click on the document name to download a fillable copy of the Exploring Our Food Habits, Part 2 handout (LMR_1.12b).
To access the Plot App, go to the IDS Homepage, found at https://tools.idsucla.org. All of the IDS web tools can be accessed through this page. Click on Plot App and log in if prompted. Once logged in, notice that you are redirected to the Campaign Manager. This happens so that you can select the campaign containing the data that you want to analyze. Find the Food Habits campaign and click on PlotApp.
The following are instructions for creating the visuals for LMR_1.12b using the Plot App:
1. Plot 1: Select healthy_level under the x-axis drop-down on the left-hand side. Select serving_size under the y-axis drop-down on the left-hand side. Scroll down and click on Update Plot to view the corresponding plot.
2. Plot 2: Follow the same instructions as you did for Plot 1, but instead use salty_sweet for the x-axis and calories for the y-axis.
3. Plot 3: Follow the same instructions as you did for Plots 1 and 2, but instead use calories for the x-axis and total_fat for the y-axis.
4. Plot 4: Keep the same variables on the x-axis and y-axis as in Plot 3, but add a Facet to this plot by selecting salty_sweet under the Facet drop down on the left-hand side. Remember to scroll down and click Update Plot to view the corresponding plot.
Once completed, you will turn in both handouts for assessment.

Reflection

What are the essential learnings you are taking away from this lesson?

Homework

Continue to collect nutritional facts data using the Food Habits Participatory Sensing campaign on your smart device or via web browser.