Overview of Lesson At a time when nothing good can be said about COVID-19, Sara Brown, Patrick Hopfensperger, and Henry Kranendonk—authors of Focus on Statistics: Investigations for the Integration of Statistics into Grades 9–12 Mathematics Classrooms—have made available for free an investigation that can at least help students understand how the virus spreads. Investigation … [Read more...] about Lesson Plan: COVID-19: A Teachable Moment
Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan: A Tale of One City and Two Lead Measurements
By Kirk Anderson and Mary Richardson, Grand Valley State University Overview of Lesson In 2014, a crisis began when the city of Flint Michigan switched its water supply in an effort to save money and the water became contaminated with lead. The EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule states that if lead concentrations exceed an action level of 15 parts per billion (ppb) in more than … [Read more...] about Lesson Plan: A Tale of One City and Two Lead Measurements
Lesson Plan: Choosing a Study Design for the Polio Vaccine
By Adam Molnar, Oklahoma State University Overview of Lesson This activity, based on real meetings during the 1954 Salk polio vaccine study, asks students to decide on an experimental design to test the polio vaccine. Students take one of multiple roles—such as statistician, parent, and government—that may lead to different design choices. Real-world study design involves … [Read more...] about Lesson Plan: Choosing a Study Design for the Polio Vaccine
Lesson Plan: Who Has the Longest First Name?
This investigation was originally published in Bridging the Gap Between Common Core State Standards and Teaching Statistics by Pat Hopfensperger, Tim Jacobbe, Deborah Lurie, and Jerry Moreno. (Grade 6 – Common Core State Standards: 6.SP.1-4) This investigation is based on one found in the Appendix for Level A in Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics … [Read more...] about Lesson Plan: Who Has the Longest First Name?
Lesson Plan: Can You Roll Your Tongue?
This investigation was originally published in Bridging the Gap Between Common Core State Standards and Teaching Statistics by Pat Hopfensperger, Tim Jacobbe, Deborah Lurie, and Jerry Moreno. (Grade 6 & 8 – Common Core State Standards: 6.RP.3C, 6.SP.3, 8.SP.4) This investigation focuses on students examining an association between two categorical variables. Specifically, … [Read more...] about Lesson Plan: Can You Roll Your Tongue?
Lesson Plan: How Far Can You Jump?
This investigation was originally published in Bridging the Gap Between Common Core State Standards and Teaching Statistics created by Pat Hopfensperger, Tim Jacobbe, Deborah Lurie, and Jerry Moreno. (Grade 6 – Common Core State Standards: 6.SP.1-5) This investigation focuses on students conducting a comparative experiment to explore the effect a fixed target will have on … [Read more...] about Lesson Plan: How Far Can You Jump?
Lesson Plan: How Tall Were the Ancestors of Laetoli?
This investigation was originally published in Bridging the Gap Between Common Core State Standards and Teaching Statistics by Pat Hopfensperger, Tim Jacobbe, Deborah Lurie, and Jerry Moreno. (Grade 8 – Common Core State Standard 8.SP.1) The focus of this investigation is to look for and measure the degree of any relationship between two quantitative variables, specifically … [Read more...] about Lesson Plan: How Tall Were the Ancestors of Laetoli?
Lesson Plan: Which Hand Rules?
By Wendy Weber (Grades 9-12+) Published in August of 2017, this lesson has students engage in dropping and catching a yardstick to investigate whether there is significant evidence (via a matched pairs randomization test) that people are faster with their dominant hand than their nondominant hand. Students will engage in data collection and the randomization process of … [Read more...] about Lesson Plan: Which Hand Rules?
Lesson Plan: How Fast Are You?
By Maryann Huey, Alana Linde, Dan Aalbers (Grades 6-8, 9-12+) In this lesson, published in August 2017, each student collects 20 reaction-time data values using an online tool for testing reaction times to a visual stimulus. Students display and analyze data via a free online tool, Tuva. Students first characterize their own reaction times, and then compare the results … [Read more...] about Lesson Plan: How Fast Are You?
Lesson Plan: Are Female Hurricanes Deadlier Than Male Hurricanes?
By Mary Richardson (Grades 6-8, 9-12+) Originally published in June of 2014, this lesson uses a data set partially discussed in the article "Female Hurricanes Are Deadlier Than Male Hurricanes," written by Kiju Junga, Sharon Shavitta, Madhu Viswanathana, and Joseph M. Hilbed. The data set contains archival data on actual fatalities caused by hurricanes in the United States … [Read more...] about Lesson Plan: Are Female Hurricanes Deadlier Than Male Hurricanes?