the calendar grid

The days laid out as a calendar, shaded by how much happened. Weekly rhythms — quiet weekends, busy Mondays — jump straight out.

What it leaves outEvery square is one day whatever happened in it, so a quiet Tuesday and a Tuesday with one enormous event look alike.

2 · intermediate · level 2 · ask who counted · taught in no dive yet

Two worked examples

Do rats take weekends off?

Before you lookWrite down which day of the week you expect the most rat complaints, and why.

civicweekday_nyc_rat_complaints.csv · 7 rows · 2 columns

a year of New York rat complaints, by day of the week

What to look atWeekends are quieter. Ask whether there are fewer rats on Sunday, or fewer people calling.

This example draws itself with a small script. With scripting off you can still read every word on this page, and the file itself is at data/weekday_nyc_rat_complaints.csv.

A note on this drawingA calendar grid lays these same counts out on a calendar. Drawn here in a row — same counts, no grid.

earth and spaceweekday_socal_quakes.csv · 7 rows · 2 columns

ten years of southern California earthquakes, by day of the week

What to look atNearly flat — and it should be. The earth does not know what day it is. Compare this with the rat complaints above and you have the whole lesson.

This example draws itself with a small script. With scripting off you can still read every word on this page, and the file itself is at data/weekday_socal_quakes.csv.

A note on this drawingSame counts, in a row rather than on a calendar.

the pool

Now build one yourself.

The pool opens with this file and this shape already drawn, so your first move is to change something rather than to start from nothing. Bring your own CSV if you have one. Nothing is uploaded anywhere — the chart is drawn in your browser, your work saves there, and it downloads as a picture or as a project file you can open again.

Open the pool → the calendar grid · weekday_nyc_rat_complaints.csv