Visualization in practice

Total suggested time: 60 minutes

Class exercise: Going further with viz

Suggested time: 30 minutes

With what you’ve learned so far, see if you can create the following visualizations as a class:

  • Create a line chart examining the rolling averages of new cases in California that’s limited to the dates during the 2020 winter peak.
  • Modify your line chart to include three to five other states of your choice for comparison.
  • Create a state-specific chart of California showing both daily deaths and the seven-day rolling average of deaths.

Solo/group work: Comparing media coverage

Suggested time: 5-10 minutes

Individually or in small groups, take 5-10 minutes to find several examples of coverage during the winter 2020 surge of COVID in California.

  • How did news organizations cover the surge?

Class discussion: Comparing media coverage

Suggested time: 20 minutes

As a class, share your findings and discuss:

  • In what ways were the visualizations they used effective at communicating the surge?