Michigan Statistics Poster Competition (K-12)
Two Michigan posters placed at the 2024 national competition!
- Grade K-3 Honorable Mention: Adalyn Michels; “What Do People in Our Class Think About Reading and Writing?” Explorer Elementary; Caledonia, Michigan
- Grade 7-9 Second Place: Paavani Tewari; “Inflations, Hyperinflations, and Perceptions” Huron High School; Ann Arbor, Michigan
See the full list of winners below!
Overview
The Michigan Statistics Poster Competition (MSPC) supports the development of data analysis and communication skills in K-12 students, which are essential in our increasingly data-driven world. Annually, teachers throughout Michigan send hundreds of their students' posters to GVSU (see How to Enter), where they are judged in four grade-level categories: K-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. We accept posters in three formats: the actual paper poster, a picture file of a poster, or file of a computer-made poster. Winners in each category are awarded state-level prizes and sent to the national competition organized by the American Statistical Association. See below for examples of past winners, a description of what a statistics poster is, and a lesson plan for introducing posters with additional resources.
WHO CAN ENTER THE COMPETITION?
All students in grades K through 12 residing in Michigan are eligible to participate. There is no entry fee! Entries will be judged in four different grade level categories:
- Category 1: Grades K-3
- Category 2: Grades 4-6
- Category 3: Grades 7-9
- Category 4: Grades 10-12
HOW TO ENTER
Register for the competition!
Registration is now open!
All participants must register through the online registration system when they submit their poster.
- Posters must be submitted (or at least postmarked) by March 28, 2025.
- Winners will be notified by May 5, 2025.
There are two options for submitting posters:
- Physical: Mailing or dropping off the actual paper poster, OR
- Electronic: Uploading a file (either a high-quality picture file of a paper poster or a digitally created poster) to the online registration system.
Option 1: Submitting a paper poster
Mail or drop off the poster to:
Department of Statistics
Michigan Statistics Poster Competition
A-1-178 Mackinac Hall
Grand Valley State University
1 Campus Drive
Allendale MI 49401-9403
Additional Instructions:
- After completing the online registration, you will receive an email from [email protected] entitled "Michigan Statistics Poster Competition Submission"
- It will contain a separate "Poster Information" section for each of the posters you registered.
- You must paper-clip a separate "Poster Information" section to each poster mailed/delivered. (Especially important is the code MIx-xxx so we can match the posters with your entries in the online registration.)
- When mailing, please send entries flat between taped sheets of cardboard. Do not send posters rolled in a tube.
Option 2: Submitting Poster as a file
If the file is a picture (.jpg or .png file) of the poster:
- Make sure the picture is high enough quality for all text and graphics to be read.
- Tips:
- use bright light (outdoor daylight is good)
- spread the poster on a flat surface
- be careful to take the picture straight on so the picture is rectangular instead of trapezoidal
If creating a digital poster (.pptx or .pdf file):
- please follow the guidelines in the electronic poster tutorial.
- please note that only files containing one page will be judged. (Submissions consisting of a series of slides will be disqualified.)
Past winners
Special thanks to Mark Adrian (Dan's dad) for making the wonderful videos of the winning posters. These videos (set to music!) pan and zoom around the winning posters to feature all the neat details.
WHAT IS A STATISTICS POSTER?
A statistics poster tells the story of a data set. Numbers and graphs are used to give voice to the truth behind the data. Whether the summary is a bar chart, histogram, or table of numerical summaries the focus should always be on the meaning behind the data. In a well-done statistics poster, the reader is able to discover the story behind the data by following the logical progression of the poster. The emphasis is on the visual display of results through well-placed graphs.
Creating a Statistics Poster
Articles from the Interchange:
Lesson Plan
From John Golden, math education professor at GVSU:
- Lesson plan for introducing poster competition to students. It is targeted at the 3rd grade level but can be adapted.
- Description of how statistics posters align with educational standards.
- Two elementary-level books for tying statistics to a reading lesson (both winners of the Mythical Award):
- Friends Beyond Measure by Lalena Fisher (early-mid elementary)
- By the Numbers 3.14: 110.01 Cool Infographics packed with Stats and Figures by National Geographic Kids (upper elementary)
RULES
- Students may work individually or in teams. For the K-3 category, there is no restriction on the size of the team (it may be as large as the entire class). For the other three categories, the team may have up to four students. For teams with members from different grade levels, the highest grade level determines the category.
- Posters must be the original design and creation of the students.
- Subject matter is the choice of the participants. Data may be original or published. For published data, a reference must be given.
- Posters are to measure between 18 to 24 inches by 24 to 30 inches. If you choose to make the poster using a computer, please see the electronic poster tutorial to set up the dimensions of the document.
- Posters submitted electronically must be only one "page". Submissions consisting of a slide show with many pages will not be judged.
- Any weight of paper is permitted. Standard poster board is recommended.
- Be sure that anything attached to the front of the poster is affixed securely. Do not attach perishable items.
- All important content should be place on the front of the poster, as judges may not look at the back. However, non-essential content (such as references) may be placed on the back of the poster.
- In the K-3 category, at least one graph is required. In the 4-12 categories, at least two graphs are required. The two graphs should impart different information (e.g., a bar graph and a pie chart of the same variable does not meet this criteria). Computer generated graphs are acceptable.
- Posters must not contain any marks, names, or information that reveal the identity of the individual, team, school, or location.
PERMISSIONS
By submitting a poster, students give permission for their work to be displayed at various conferences, special events, in publications and promotional material, and in electronic format on the Internet. Posters become the property of the competition organizers and are not returned.
JUDGING AND PRIZES
You may access the scoring rubric used by the judges! Entries will be judged within the four grade-level categories on the basis of:
- Overall impact of the display (poster design)
Poster design aspects, colors/patterns, grammar, spelling, dimensionality, readability, neatness - Formulation of Statistical Investigative Questions
Variable(s) of interest, group or population that the question is focused upon, and the intent of the question are clear. - Collection and Analysis of Data
How useful are the data for answering the statistical investigative question? - Appropriateness of the Data Visualization
Visualizations address the investigative question - Creativity and topic is of interest
The rubric rewards the student(s) who uses data visualizations to support their conclusions and penalizes the use of excessive text to describe what we are supposed to see in the graphics. The poster should be driven by the data visualization's ability to support the student's conclusion/answer to their statistical question.
Prizes:
- Prizes in the amounts of $144, $96, and $72 will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each of the grade level categories. (Why are the amounts not "round" numbers? They must be divisible by 2, 3, and 4!)
- Winning entrants' schools will receive plaques signifying the honor.
- The top 5 entries in each grade level category will be sent to the national competition organized by the American Statistical Association.
- Honorable mention certificates will be awarded also.
- Winners will be notified by email.
Contact Information
Please direct all correspondence to co-chairs of the poster competition, Dan Adrian at [email protected] and Gerald Shoultz at [email protected].
MSPC Committee:
- Kirk Anderson [email protected]
- Phyllis Curtiss [email protected]
- Diann Reischman [email protected]
The competition is sponsored by the Department of Statistics and the Regional Math and Science Center at Grand Valley State University with support from the Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics.