Introduction to Data Analysis Using SAS® Graphics Accelerator - Student Materials

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Introduction to the SAS Graphics Accelerator

Charts

• Bar chart showing gravity by planet
• Series chart showing relative temperature by year

Activities

• Use point-by-point navigation in explore mode to examine bar plot of Gravity by Planet
• Use left and right arrow keys to move between bars
• Use ctrl+left arrow to move to the left side of the graph
• Use ctrl+right arrow to move to the right of the graph
• Which planet has the strongest gravitational force? The weakest?
• What do you notice about the data? Does it seem familiar to what you've already seen?
• Use playall left/right in explore mode to examine the series plot of relative temperature per year
• Use shift+left arrow to play the entire graph from left to right
• Use shift+right arrow to play the entire graph from right to left
• Use ctrl+left arrow to move to the left side of the graph
• Use ctrl+right arrow to move to the right of the graph
• Press d to cycle between speed settings
• Examine the chart using both normal and fast mode
• What do you notice when playing the graph fast vs. slow?
• Use scan mode to examine the series plot of relative temperature per year
• Pres v to cycle to scan mode
• Pres left or right arrow keys to scan the graph in either direction
• Examine the chart using fast speed several times in each direction (left-to-right and right-to-left)
• Is it easier to get an overall view of the graph in scan mode?

Line and series charts

Charts

• Series chart showing relative temperature by year

Activities

• Navigate the series plot using scan mode
1. Do you notice any obvious trends?
2. How does temperature change over time?
3. Are there any interesting data points, outliers?
4. What do you hear differently when you play the graph at slow vs. fast speeds?
5. What might cause small changes from year to year?
• Navigate the series plot using explore mode (tip: Use ctrl+shift+left/right arrow to jump sections in the graph)
1. Which year had the highest relative temperature? Lowest?
2. What was the relative temperature in 1940, and why is this significant?
3. Which decade had the 5 hottest years?

Bar charts

Charts

• Bar chart showing mean temperature by planet
• Bar chart showing gravity by planet
• Bar chart showing length of day by planet

Activities

• Use explore mode to examine the 3 bar charts
• Determine if there is another planet in our solar system that is suitable for human life by examining:
• Temperature:
1. Is it too hot or cold to safely go outside?
2. Could you farm?
3. Would technology work?
4. Which planet has temperature most similar to Earth?
• Gravity:
1. Could you walk or jump?
2. Could you carry heavy objects?
3. Would you have to tie things down so they wouldn't float away?
4. Which planet has gravity most similar to Earth?
• Length of day:
1. Could you sleep if the sun was out for a very long time?
2. Could you farm if nights were very long?
3. Would you want to have really short 9 or 10 hour days?
4. Which planet has days most similar in length to Earth?

Pie charts

Charts

• Pie chart showing Percent volume by Gas for Earth's atmosphere
• Pie chart showing Percent volume by Gas for Mars's atmosphere
• Pie chart showing Percent volume by Gas for Venus's atmosphere

Activities

• Examine the pie chart of Earth's atmospheric composition using explore mode:
1. What are the two major components of Earth's atmosphere?
2. Which gas do humans need to breathe?
3. Is the gas humans need to breathe abundant in Earth's atmosphere?
• Examine the pie chart of Mars's atmospheric composition using explore mode:
1. What is the most abundant gas in Mars's atmosphere?
2. Is the atmosphere of Mars similar to the Atmosphere of Earth?
3. Is the gas humans need to breathe abundant in Mars's atmosphere?
• Examine the pie chart of Venus's atmospheric composition using explore mode:
1. What is the most abundant gas in Venus's atmosphere?
2. Is the atmosphere of Venus similar to the Atmosphere of Earth?
3. Is the atmosphere of Venus similar to the atmosphere of Mars?
4. Is the gas humans need to breathe abundant in Venus's atmosphere?

Conclusion

In conclusion, is there a planet suitable for human life other than Earth?

Importing excel and csv tables

Activities

• Explore the table in excel
1. What variables are in the table?
2. How many observations are in the table?
3. What type of data is in the table (number, character, both)?
• Import the table into the SAS Graphics Accelerator lab
1. Open google chrome
2. Press the alt key and then tab until you hear "Extensions"
3. If you hear "SAS Graphics Accelerator", press space. If not, press down arrow until you hear "SAS Graphics Accelerator" and press space
4. Press down arrow until you hear "Laboratory" and press space to enter the SAS Graphics Accelerator Laboratory
5. Press f until you hear "Import table" and then press space to open the file explorer
6. (Need to find out the file path of the table on the laptops we will be using)
7. Import the "Planetary Facts.csv" file
• Explore the options on the "Prepare Table" page
1. Experiment with changing the table name
2. Does the first row of the table contain column headers? If so, check the corresponding box
3. Does the first column contain row headers? If so, check the corresponding box
4. Press tab until you hear "Save to laboratory" and press space
• Explore column properties
1. On the table page, press t to move focus to the data table and navigate among rows and columns with control, alt and arrow keys
2. Navigate to the second row of the planet column. You should hear "character button"
3. press enter to open the column properties for the planet column
4. Experiment with changing the column label
5. What is the column type? How many rows match the selected type?
6. Change the column type to number. How many rows match the selected column type?
• Apply a filter
1. In the column properties dialogue, press tab until you hear "filter type: list box, none."
2. Press down arrow until you hear "contains"
3. Press tab to reach the value input field, and type "s"
4. Press tab until you hear "OK button" and press enter
5. How many planets contain the letter "s?"
• Create a bar chart showing distance to sun by planet using the variable page
1. Starting at the "Planetary Facts" table page, press t to move to the data table
2. Navigate to the first row of the sixth column. You should hear a link for "Distance from Sun (10^6 miles)"
3. Press enter to open the variable page for the column, Distance from Sun (10^6 miles)
4. Press 3 to move the first heading level 3 on the page. You should hear "planet"
5. Press tab once until you hear "Bar chart showing Distance from Sun (10^6 miles) by planet" and press enter
6. The graph opens in sonification view
• Create a bar chart showing distance to sun by planet using the create graph page
1. Starting at the "Planetary Facts" table page, press f until you hear "Create graph" and press space
2. Press f until you reach the "Chart type" list box and press space
3. Press b until you hear "Bar chart"
4. Press tab until you reach the "X axis variable" list box
5. Press down arrow until you hear "Planet"
6. Press tab until you reach the "Y axis variable" list box
7. Press down arrow until you hear "Distance from sun (10^6 miles)"
8. Press tab until you reach the "Submit" button and press space
9. Open the graph by pressing insert+f7, pressing b until you hear "Bar chart showing distance from sun (10^6 miles) by planet", and pressing enter