Sample Sentence Starters
for Data Analysis

Use these sentence starters to help students describe patterns, make predictions, find comparisons, share surprises and discoveries, formulate hypotheses, and ask questions.

Patterns:

  • I noticed a pattern when I looked at the data. The pattern is...
  • I see a pattern in the data collected so far. My graph shows....

Predictions:

  • Based on the patterns I see in the data collected so far, I predict that...
  • This year, I expect to see the data reveal...
  • My prediction for this year's first sighting date is...

Comparisons:

  • When I compared my 2 years data, ________________ and ______________, I noticed that...
  • When I compared this year's first sighting date with multiple other years, I noticed that...
  • There are similarities [or differences] between...

Surprises and Discoveries:

  • I discovered that...
  • I was surprised by...
  • I noticed something unusual about...

Hypotheses: (Possible Reasons for Differences in First Sighting Dates)

  • A possible explanation for different date is...
  • Some factors that affected the first sighting date have been...
  • I think the data describing first sighting in different places was affected by...

Questions:

  • I wonder why...
  • I wonder how...
  • How is migration affected by...
  • How will migration pattern change if...