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Ellis Abel Learns.

In my own words · Auglaize County, OH

Why I love data

A close-up of one row of the Discover supercomputer, showing about 2,000 processors stacked in cabinets with cabling. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Data" page — read by families in Auglaize County, OH.
A close-up of one row of the Discover supercomputer, showing about 2,000 processors stacked in cabinets with cabling. NASA/Pat Izzo · Public domain
  • Numbers tell me things people forgot to notice.
  • I can count something nobody counted before.
  • A picture of numbers shows what a list hides.

You can love data in Auglaize County.

What it really is

Data is what you get when you count something carefully and write it down.

Three things to try today

  1. Count something at home for seven days.
  2. Make a bar for each day.
  3. Find the day that does not fit and ask why.
A USGS hydrologist stands in the flooded Big Thompson River collecting flood data with streamflow measuring equipment. Real USGS photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Data" page — read by families in Auglaize County, OH.
A USGS hydrologist stands in the flooded Big Thompson River collecting flood data with streamflow measuring equipment. U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain

For the grown-up reading this

Nobody has to talk a child into liking data. They have to not talk them out of it. Auglaize County is one of 88 counties in Ohio.

The anomaly question is the beginning of analysis. Not what is the average, but what does not fit.

If the kid who loves this is a girl

Read what one popular teacher said to one little girl who took out the classroom trash without being asked — and what that girl did with the rest of her life.

Girls are great at math — Auglaize County, OH →

Love something else too

Near Auglaize County

Why I love data, everywhere in the US · All things to love · STEM jobs you could do · Summer camps in Auglaize County