Statistics

Week Two This week, the class will tackle the Preliminary Chapter and Chapter One in the textbook.  First, the kids will do the Water, Water Everywhere activity on p.4.  Can you taste the difference between bottled and tap water?  Next, the class will review key terms.  After the class will work through an introductory slideshow, preliminary notes.  This is my first time teaching Stats.  The course will follow the textbook closely.  The next activity,  How long does it take you to drive home from class?  , allows students to organize and graph data.  This week, the kids must complete the key terms, get an overview of descriptive stats, and learn how to calculate standard deviation  (SD) by hand to gain a better understanding of SD.  The class will include as many hands-on labs, activities, and demonstrations as possible.

Day One is approaching in two weeks.  The class is using the textbook, The Practice of Statistics , by Yates, Moore, and Starnes (YMS), 3rd edition.  A better textbook for high school is The Practice of Statistics for AP  by YMS; however, the 3rd edition is much cheaper used.  Cheaper is better.  The first week, the class is getting an overview of descriptive statistics, an introduction to graphs, graphing, use of a graphing calculator (TI 83/84), and  M&M Statistics Activity   The kids will graph on paper, graph with the calculator, and graph the M&M lab.