Data projects for charities · Maths CAS idea
Make a charity's annual figures accessible
CreativityService
Redesign the charts and number summaries in a small charity's annual report so that more people can understand them, including people using screen readers.
Where the maths comes in
Choosing chart types, scales and plain-language summaries of statistics.
Which CAS strand it fits
- Creativity: The arts, and other experiences that involve creative thinking.
- Service: Unpaid, voluntary work with others that also has a learning benefit for you.
Your CAS coordinator decides how an experience counts at your school. Strand summaries are provisional (our words, being checked).
How to run it
- Ask the charity which figures matter most to their readers.
- Redesign the charts and test them on a few readers.
- Write alt text and plain summaries.
- Hand over the files and a short style guide.
How to evidence it
- Before and after charts
- Reader test notes
- Charity feedback
Date everything and keep it in your school's CAS portfolio as you go. More on what counts as evidence.
Reflection prompts
Questions to think about, not answers to copy. Write your reflections in your own words, in whatever form your school accepts.
- What did you learn about how people misread charts?
- Which design choice was hardest, and why?
- How did accessibility change your idea of a good chart?
Learning outcomes this often gives a chance to show
- Challenge and new skills. What could you not do at the start that you can do now? Which moment felt most uncomfortable, and what did you do next?
- Ethics. What choice in this experience had a right and a wrong way to do it? Whose interests did you have to protect (privacy, safety, fairness), and how?
- Initiative and planning. What did you plan, and what did you have to change once you started? Who did you need to ask for permission or help, and how did you go about it?
Whether you meet an outcome depends on what you actually do and reflect on, not on the idea. Outcome labels are our short summaries, being checked.
Safety and ethics
- Use only figures the charity has already made public, or that it gives you to publish.
Agree every plan with your CAS coordinator first. Safety and ethics for maths CAS.
Need the statistics? The statistics guide (written for the IA) explains tests and charts step by step. Keep CAS and your IA separate.