Young children collect data every day. They note who has pink sparkly shoes and find out who will share the ball on the playground. Children will be interested in collecting data if the topic is important to them, such as recording their favorite color. Making sense of the data by analyzing it appropriately is one of the challenges of teaching science in early childhood. Mathematics is important to making observations, and graphing can help children see any patterns in data. Collecting data is part of National Science Education Standard A: Science as inquiry, abilities necessary to do inquiry.