On 15 October The Social Network, a film telling the story of Facebook, is released in the UK.

Facebook is just six years old, has 500 million users and an estimated value of $33 billion.

Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, owns 24% of the stock.

How close to the ‘average Facebook user’ are you?

How close to the ‘average Facebook user’ is your class?

February 2010

Many people have documented the growth of Facebook using infographics.

Use the infographics given to write a short article about the growth and use of Facebook.A large infographic can be found here February 2010

It’s in the News!500 million friends

Teacher Notes

500 million friendsIntroduction: A film based on the social networking site Facebook is released in the UK on 15 October. Detailing the story behind the invention and growth of the site, the film once again ensures that the sometimes controversial website is back in the news.Facebook has seen massive growth since its launch as a tool for students at Harvard in February 2004. The site now has 500 million registered users and hasmade its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, a billionaire at the age of just 26.

This resource, the third of a series exploring aspects of the data handling cycle, looks at the growth of Facebook and other social networking sites asdocumented by a number of ‘infographics’ (a useful blog entry about infographics can be found here) giving students a context to ‘interpret tables, graphs anddiagrams for discrete and continuous data’.

Content objectives:This context provides the opportunity for teachers and students to explore a number of objectives. Some that may be addressed are:• calculate statistics and select those most appropriate to the problem or which address the questions posed • interpret tables, graphs and diagrams for discrete and continuous data, relating summary statistics and findings to the questions being explored.

Process objectives: These will depend on the amount of freedom you allow your class with the activity. It might be worth considering how you’re going to deliver the activity andhighlighting the processes that this will allow on the diagram below:

Activity:The activity provides a context for students to directly access the ‘interpret and discuss data’ section of the handling data cycle. Students are provided with aset of infographics about the growth and use of Facebook and are asked to write a short article based on these diagrams and charts.An additional task is suggested in slide three, to discuss how closely members of your class represent the ‘average Facebook user’ as described in one of theinfographics. This may be a short discussion activity used as an introduction to the task or you may choose to explore this question with your class. This

wouldbroaden the focus of the activity to other sections of the handling data cycle.

Differentiation:You may decide to change the level of challenge for your group. To make the task easier you could consider:• providing some scaffolding to support the students’ writing• spending some time discussing the different graphics• giving each group just one graphic to write about and explain to the rest of the class• using a frame to focus on the shapes of the graphics initially, before moving n to what they might mean.

To make the task more complex you could consider:• reducing the scaffolding, providing students with the graphics and asking them to interpret them with little direction• allowing the students to explore other infographics relating to Facebook (a Google search on Facebook infographics returns nearly half a million image

results).

This resource is designed to be adapted to your requirements.

Working in groups:This activity lends itself to paired work and small group work and, by encouraging students to work collaboratively, it is likely that you will allow them access tomore of the key processes than if they were to work individually.You will need to think about how your class will work on this task. Will they work in pairs, threes or larger groups? If pupils are not used to working in groups inmathematics you may wish to spend some time talking about their rules and procedures to maximise the effectiveness and engagement of pupils in group

work(You may wish to look at the SNS Pedagogy and practice pack Unit 10: Guidance for groupwork). You may wish to encourage the groups to delegate

differentareas of responsibility to specific group members.

Assessment:You may wish to consider how you will assess the task and how you will record your assessment. This could include developing the assessment criteria withyour class. You might choose to focus on the content objectives or on the process objectives. You might decide that this activity lends itself to comment-onlymarking or to student self-assessment. If you use the APP model of assessment then you might use this activity to help you in building a picture of your students’ understanding.

Assessment criteria to focus on might be: • use and interpret mathematical symbols and diagrams (Using and applying mathematics level 3)• interpret graphs and diagrams, including pie charts, and draw conclusions (Handling data level 5)• communicate interpretations and results of a statistical survey using selected tables, graphs and diagrams in support (Handling data level 6).

Probing questions:

These might include:• which is the clearest way to present the data?• do any of the infographics give the same information?• do any of the infographics contradict one another?• what are the key features of a good statistical report?• what is good about this report? (use a student’s report or one that you have prepared).

You will need:

The PowerPoint presentation and the Student Resource Sheets. You might also choose to use this framework as a scaffolding tool.

The first two slides set the scene focussing on The Social Network film

The third slide shows some information about the ‘average Facebook user’ and poses the questions “How close to the ‘average Facebook user’ are you?” and “How close to the ‘average Facebook user’ is your class?”This could be either a discussion activity or a longer statistical investigation.

The final slide shows an infographic comparing the number of Facebook users to the population of China and sets the activity, ‘Use the infographics given to write a short article about the growth and use of Facebook’At the bottom of this page is a link to a large infographic about the story of Facebook.