| Lesson Plan Title/Info: | Lesson Plan - Unit 5 Lesson 01: Measures of Central Tendency and Outliers Is Number 1 Of 5 In Unit Plan - Unit 5A: Data Analysis | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Creator: | Holly Plunkett: hplunket@access.k12.wv.us | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Subject: | Mathematics | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Grade Level: | Algebra I | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Essential Questions: | 1. How do outliers affect the measures of central tendency? 2. What are the pros and cons of the measures of central tendency?
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| Launch/Introduction (suggested time 15-25 m): |
Since the measures of central tendency is a review topic, the launch will ask students to perform the calculations. During the discussion of the data, students will refresh their knowledge of the definitions. Use the “Rats Maze Running Time” data from http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/statistics.html.(Also given as attachment: RATS1) Tell the story that scientists were studying whether music affects the speed of rats running a maze. The time it took each rat was measured in seconds and the data is shown in the table. Divide the students into two groups: have each group calculate the mean, mode and median for one column of the data. As students do this activity, you will be able to decide whether they need to be in the Standard or Advanced group for the investigation. Compare the answers gotten in each group. (Answers attached as RATS2) Note that there is no mode since no element in the set occurs more than any other. Remind students that if there had been an even number of rats, you need to take the average of the two middle numbers to find the median. The variation in the data is also important. Find the range of each set of data by subtracting the lowest value from the highest value in the set. Will the measures change if additional data is added to the list? We will be answering this question during our activity.
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| Activating Prior Knowledge: | Students should be able to calculate the mean, mode, and median of a set of data.
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| Specialized Vocabulary Development: | Each of the activities reinforces the meaning of mean, mode, median. Students will be looking at the effect of outliers on the measures of central tendency.
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| Investigate/Explore (suggested time from 30-40 m): |
Each student in the class will complete 3 of 5 activities given on the “menu.” Those students needing more review of the measures of central tendency will do the “appetizer.” The most advanced students should select the “dessert.” All students should select 2 of the three activities from the “salad”, “meat” and “potatoes” courses. Appetizer: review of measures of central tendency Meat, Salad and Potatoes: various activities with measures of central tendency and the effect of the outliers. Dessert: More challenging activity with measures of central tendency and outliers--requires use of the Internet.
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| Summarize/Debrief the Lesson (suggested time from 30-40 m): |
Students should now be very familiar with the measures of central tendency. Go back to the Rat Maze data from the beginning of the lesson. Add one additional piece of data to each list. (On Rats3) Discuss how the change would change the measures previously calculated. Ask the students which measure would best describe the speed of the rats? Do the students think that the music made an appreciable difference in the speed of the rats? How might this apply to doing school work?
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| Reflection: | Only the dessert activity will require use of the Internet. The student activities in the Investigate/Explore should take the bulk of the class period. The Debriefing should only take 5 minutes or so. An answer sheet has been included which includes the various activities used throughout the lesson.
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| Materials: | Rats 1 Rats 2 Rats 3 Appetizer Meat Potatoes Salad Dessert Answer Key
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| Duration: | 80 minutes | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Files Uploaded |
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| Date Created: | September 04, 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Date Modified: | November 29, 2007 |