Chapter 5: Counting the Treasure
Missing Data
"Uh oh! Missing data can be a problem."
A puzzle with a piece missing. The Squad looks confused.
About this page
The puzzle is almost finished, but one piece is missing, and the Squad's puzzled faces say it all. Page 73 teaches something most books skip: research does not always go smoothly. Sometimes a measurement gets lost, a page gets smudged, or nobody remembered to count on Tuesday, and the picture ends up with a hole in it. Good researchers notice the gap, admit it honestly, and decide what to do next. Keeping careful records, the way Detail Dog keeps his data journal, is the best protection against missing pieces. Even so, every scientist loses one sometimes, and that is okay.
Talk about it while you color
- Where do you think the missing puzzle piece could be hiding?
- What could the Squad do to figure out what the missing piece looked like?
- Have you ever lost a piece of something, and how did you solve it?