Did you know Texas had the most amusement parks in 2020? Or that there were 441 ice cream and frozen dessert makers in the United States in 2019? Summer is here and now middle grade teachers can add another digital resource to their students’ summer learning toolkit: a variety of challenging online Kahoot! games from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistics in Schools (SIS) program. These games can help your students beat the summer slide by exploring kid-friendly topics like U.S. holidays and observances, businesses, history, and the diverse makeup of our country through real-life data.
These educational games were designed to help boost the statistical literacy of K-12 students while introducing them to working with and understanding Census Bureau data that will help sharpen their data literacy skills before returning to school in the fall. These skills help prepare them for future learning and careers in an increasingly data-driven world. Educators can use these challenges and other free SIS resources to supplement what they are reviewing in summer school, or send home with students to encourage learning over the summer break.
Many of these data-driven games align with common student learning objectives, such as reading and interpreting bar and line graphs, interpreting data visualizations, and identifying trends over time. They also teach skills like how to use data to draw conclusions and develop an informed opinion.
For example, students can test their knowledge of people and places across the United States by learning about different population groups, such as veterans and people 65 and older, which state has the highest population, or which was the fastest growing state over the last 10 years.
They can also keep summer learning fun with our Kahoot! 
game on holidays and observances celebrated each year across the United States. They’ll learn interesting facts like which two states had the most chocolate makers, and how many hobby, toy, and game stores there are in the United States.
Middle graders can also use this engaging online tool to learn about demographic characteristics of people around the United States and right in their own communities. Our course, Exploring Statistics on America’s Diverse Population, is an assortment of Kahoot! games that highlight Census Bureau statistics pertaining to holidays, anniversaries, and observances like Irish-American Heritage Month and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Later this year, we’ll also add games for Hispanic Heritage Month and AIAN Heritage Month to accompany our popular Fun Facts handouts!
We’ll also have new games that explore interesting topics like STEM careers and U.S. education statistics where students can test their knowledge on the average salary of workers with a bachelor’s degree, or the number of people in the United States working in STEM jobs.
Educators looking for innovative ways to teach about statistics into the upcoming school year are encouraged to explore our suite of free, grades 6-8 resources on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistics in Schools website to use alongside lesson plans. SIS materials use real-life Census Bureau data, and our activities include corresponding teachers’ guides with easy-to-follow instructions on how to use them. Be sure to check out our Fourth of July Fun Facts and monthly highlights page throughout the summer months to encourage educational summer learning experiences. New to the Kahoot! platform? Learn how to play your first Kahoot! game here.