EMS 580 Fall 2018 Jennifer Orr & Dagmara Ciliano
Statistics Lesson Plan
Duke vs UNC Statistics Lesson Plan
Mathematics Learning Objectives:
● Students will be able to describe a distribution using shape, outliers, center, and spread.
● Students will be able to compare dot plots and box plots of data sets.
● Students will be able to interpret and compare mean, median, outliers, and variation
in context.
Language Objectives:
● Students will be able to describe distributions of data using measures of shape, outliers,
center, and spread.
● Students will be able to compare and contrast distributions using dot plots and box plots.
● Students will be able to defend their conclusions about the data sets based on their
models.
Essential Question:
How can I use statistics of shape, outliers, center, and spread to compare two data sets?
Common Core State Mathematics Standards:
● HSS.ID.A1 Represent data with plots on the real number line (dot plots, histograms, and
box plots).
● HSS.ID.A.2 Use statistics appropriate to the shape of the data distribution to compare
center (median, mean) and spread (interquartile range, standard deviation) of two or more
different data sets.
● HSS.ID.A.3 Interpret differences in shape, center, and spread in the context of the data
sets, accounting for possible effects of extreme data points (outliers).
Materials:
● PowerPoint File Duke vs UNC ● Data Set: CODAP File
● Sticky notes or magnets ● Duke vs UNC Worksheet
● Tablet/laptops with internet access ● Sharing/Presentation Site: Padlet
● Video Hook in PPT: UNC vs. Duke:
The Blueprint of a Rivalry
Notes to the reader:
In previous lessons, students have experienced creating, interpreting, and describing both dot and
box plots of data sets. They are familiar with vocabulary of statistics including mean, median, mode, IQR,
range, variation, spread, shape, and outliers. These will be reviewed at the beginning of this lesson. Some
students may have experience with the CODAP technology tool, but it is not necessary that they do as this
lesson guides them through the tool.
This is a very open-ended task. Students will likely vary greatly on their conclusions thus
introducing the idea of uncertainty and skepticism imperative in statistical analysis. This data was chosen
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EMS 580 Fall 2018 Jennifer Orr & Dagmara Ciliano
Statistics Lesson Plan
specifically in support of this type of statistical investigation.. There is not one “right answer” that the
students are expected to provide. Students will support their original hypothesis by comparing data values
in distribution, looking for variation, and making sense of their interpretations in context.
Detailed Plan for Instructional Time
Time: 90 minute lesson
Time What is the teacher doing? (Be sure to What are students doing? If they are
include questions the teacher will ask and interacting with a technology tool or other
academic language supports and details of materials, please describe.
technologies or other materials used)
5 - 10 mins Warm-Up: The teacher has drawn a number Students will be given a sticky note as they
line on the whiteboard with a range from 10 to enter class. They will place the sticky note on
40 or 50 (the max needs to be greater than the the number line on the whiteboard to
teacher’s age). The teacher displays the first represent their age. They will answer a series
slide of the PowerPoint on the board before a questions about the distribution.
students enter class. As students enter class,
the teacher will give each student a sticky
note. The PPT slide gives students directions
to place their sticky note on the number line to
represent their age. This warm up activity is
designed to review creating data plots. Anticipated Answers:
1. Likely skewed to the right because of
PowerPoint File the teacher’s age and possibly a
couple of older students in class.
The teacher will ask the students a series of 2. The teacher’s age may or may not be
questions about the dot plot of ages. an outlier.
1. What is the shape of this distribution 3. If the data is skewed to the right, we
of ages? should use the median because the
2. Does it look like this distribution has possible outlier is affecting the mean.
outlier(s)? Where? Why? 4. Depends on age of class but likely
3. Should we use the mean or median to between 14 and 15.
determine center? 5. There is likely little variation in the
4. What is the center of the data? data with most of the students being of
5. Describe the spread of the distribution. similar age.
5-10 mins Review: The teacher will use slides 4 - 8 of Students will follow a review of vocabulary
the PPT to review describing distributions. and terms and be reminded of the acronym
The review uses the acronym SOCS (Shape, SOCS.
Outliers, Center, Spread) to help students
remember the four parts used to describe a
distribution.
PowerPoint File
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EMS 580 Fall 2018 Jennifer Orr & Dagmara Ciliano
Statistics Lesson Plan
5 -10 mins Lesson Intro: The teacher will display slide 9 Using the dot plot created during the opening
of the PPT. This is a dot plot of another class activity, students will discuss the different
in school. The teacher will lead the students in shapes, centers, outliers, and spread a dot plot
a comparison of the dot plot students created could have, including range, in context.
at the beginning of class (on the whiteboard) Students will discuss the role of a possible
and this dot plot. The teacher will guide the outlier (teacher’s age) and its effect on mean
students to use SOCS to compare. and median. The students will also analyze
the spread of the data with the help of the
The teacher will then ask the students what teacher. **If needed, students will enter the
class this new dot plot could be based on their both data sets into the calculator to calculate
analysis. the 5 number summary and/or create a box
plot to help with analysis.
PowerPoint File
5 minutes Launch: On slide 10 of the PPT file, there is a Students will watch the video and then decide
hook video for the teacher to display showing which team they think is better. Their
the Duke vs UNC rivalry. The teacher will decision will likely be based on previous
then pose the question, who is the better team? knowledge, bias, or the video. The students
will then engage in a discussion of the two
Moving on to slide 11, the teacher will lead a basketball team rivalry and how to use data to
brief debate of who is the better team noting decide which team is better. This will lead to
which students think Duke is better, which comparing the two teams and deciding what
students think UNC is better and which are are good attributes (variables) to use for such
undecided. analysis.
The teacher will discuss data and how to
compare the two teams by using specific
attributes (variables). The teacher will steer
the discussion towards statistical tools needed
to compare data set distributions that were
mentioned at the beginning of the instruction.
5 minutes Groups: Break students into a variety of As students are paired into groups, they will
groups. After polling students verbally, pair be getting computers/tablets and logging on to
some students who think UNC is better begin data exploration.
together, some students who think Duke is
better together, some students together with
differing opinions, and some students who are
undecided together.
20-25 mins Activity: The teacher will give students the Students will use the worksheet to begin
worksheet, Duke vs UNC, which includes the exploration of the data using CODAP to
link to the CODAP file for data. investigate measures of center and spread.
They will compare data sets using dot plots
As the students follow the directions on the and SOCS and engage with data to answer
worksheet, the teacher will monitor students’ statistically charged questions.
progress in anticipation of technology related
questions i.e. how to assign a variable to each Students will create two dot plots with box
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EMS 580 Fall 2018 Jennifer Orr & Dagmara Ciliano
Statistics Lesson Plan
axis. The teacher will encourage students plots displayed on each plot with their choice
interest in assigning different attributes of attribute. They will compare data by
provided in CODAP data set but remind them analyzing the shape, outliers, center, and
that their analysis must support their spread of each data set.
interpretation.
See Figure 1 and 2 as well as Worksheet
Duke vs UNC Worksheet answer key for possible students’ work.
Data Set: CODAP File
5-10 mins Sharing: Monitor and view student uploads Students will upload a screenshot of their
on Padlet. You may walk around to assist graph (two dot plots) and type a brief
students or monitor from your computer. conclusion of their findings onto the sharing
site, Padlet.
As students upload their screenshots and give
a conclusion with explanation, think about
how to select and sequence student
presentations.
Padlet Link
10-15 mins Presentations/Connections: Students will present their graph and defend
The teacher will select students’ sample work their conclusion. Students will share their
sequenced to lead to a discussion of data interpretation of data analysis based on
analysis interpretations. The responses should comparison of box plots, data distribution,
lead back to the essential question of using centers, and spread of the two dot plots
statistics of shape, outliers, center, and spread created in CODAP.
to compare two data sets. The teacher will
lead the discussion to lead back to students’
original hypothesis about the two basketball
teams and ask if their analysis supports their
original stance.
NOTE: Some students might want to analyze
the data with relation to different variables, i.e.
losses instead of wins. This can lead to great
statistically charged discussions. See Figure 2.
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EMS 580 Fall 2018 Jennifer Orr & Dagmara Ciliano
Statistics Lesson Plan
Appendix
In this appendix, you will find the list of file links, codap screenshots of anticipated student graphs, the
student handout, and a teacher key.
FILE LINKS:
● PowerPoint File Duke vs UNC
● Video Hook in PPT: UNC vs. Duke: The Blueprint of a Rivalry
● Data Set: CODAP File
● Duke vs UNC Worksheet
● Sharing/Presentation Site: Padlet
CODAP SCREENSHOTS:
(Figure 1. CODAP home screen with data table, graph, and data source information.)
(Figure 2. CODAP table with dot plots of the two basketball teams’ wins and losses with box plot, mean,
and median displayed)
STUDENT HANDOUT and TEACHER KEY on following pages.
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EMS 580 Fall 2018 Jennifer Orr & Dagmara Ciliano
Statistics Lesson Plan
Duke vs UNC Partners: ____________________________
Before you begin: Who do you think is the better team? _________________________
Now, we will investigate data from the past 40 years to make an informed conclusion. Go to your CODAP data link:
https://codap.concord.org/releases/latest/static/dg/en/cert/index.html#shared=57665
You will notice that the data in the graph is scattered. Let’s first look at overall wins for each team. Drag the label WINS to the
x-axis in the graph. You have created a dot plot. Each dot in the graph corresponds to a row in the table. Click on any dot in
the graph. You will see the row in the table that corresponds to that dot is highlighted. Explore the graph and table by
selecting dots and rows.
Let’s explore the wins for each team. Drag the label SCHOOL to the y-axis to separate the data into two dot plots.
1. a. Which team has the highest number of wins? _______ What season did this occur? _______
b. Which team has the lowest number of wins? _______ What season did this occur? _______
2. Describe the shape of both dot plots.
3. Click on the ruler in the teal menu of the graph and select mean.
a. Compare the means of the two plots.
b. Now click on the ruler in the teal menu of the graph and select median. Compare the medians of the two dot
plots in the context of the data.
c. Why is the mean lower than the median on both dot plots?
4. Click on the ruler and select box plot & standard deviation. Explore these measures of the two distributions.
a. Which team has more variation in their number of wins? How can you tell?
b. According to your answer above, which team is more consistent in the number of wins?
c. Each team has one or more outliers. How do the outliers affect the spread of the data?
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EMS 580 Fall 2018 Jennifer Orr & Dagmara Ciliano
Statistics Lesson Plan
ANSWER THE QUESTION: WHO IS THE BETTER TEAM?
The two teams are very similar in their number of wins over the past 40 years with Duke having a total of 1077 wins and UNC
having a total of 1073 wins over that time period. Use CODAP to explore other attributes to determine who is the better team.
Create dot plots and explore adding statistical measures to the graphs to investigate and compare the teams. Take a
screenshot of the dot plot you think best displays which team is the better team according to this data. You will upload this
screenshot in padlet and write a brief conclusion backing up your claim.
What graph do you think best displays which team is the better team?
Compare the dot plots on this graph using SOCS.
Why do you think this graph in particular was helpful in your conclusion?
Go to this site: Padlet. Upload a screenshot of your chosen graph. Under one of the three options - Duke > UNC, Duke <
UNC, Duke = UNC. Using your answers above, write a brief conclusion backing up your claim.
Attribute Description
WINS Number of overall wins in one season
LOSSES Number of overall losses in one season
W-L % Percentage of overall wins in one season
Conference WINS Number of conference wins in one season
Conference LOSSES Number of conference losses in one season
Conference W-L % Percentage of conference wins in one season
SOS Strength of Schedule Rating - higher number indicates harder schedule
PPG Average points scored per game in one season
Opponent PPG Average points opponents scored per game in one season
AP Pre-Season Associated Press Pre-Season ranking
AP Highest Highest ranking during the season by the Associated Press
AP Final Final ranking at the end of the season by the Associated Press
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EMS 580 Fall 2018 Jennifer Orr & Dagmara Ciliano
Statistics Lesson Plan
Duke vs UNC ANSWER KEY Partners: ____________________________
Before you begin: Who do you think is the better team? Various Answers
Now, we will investigate data from the past 40 years to make an informed conclusion. Go to your CODAP data link:
https://codap.concord.org/releases/latest/static/dg/en/cert/index.html#shared=57665
You will notice that the data in the graph is scattered. Let’s first look at overall wins for each team. Drag the label WINS to the
x-axis in the graph. You have created a dot plot. Each dot in the graph corresponds to a row in the table. Click on any dot in
the graph. You will see the row in the table that corresponds to that dot is highlighted. Explore the graph and table by
selecting dots and rows.
Let’s explore the wins for each team. Drag the label SCHOOL to the y-axis to separate the data into two dot plots.
1. a. Which team has the highest number of wins? Duke What season did this occur? 85-86 and 98-99
b. Which team has the lowest number of wins? UNC What season did this occur? 2001-2002
2. Describe the shape of both dot plots. Both dot plots are skewed left
3. Click on the ruler in the teal menu of the graph and select mean.
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EMS 580 Fall 2018 Jennifer Orr & Dagmara Ciliano
Statistics Lesson Plan
a. Compare the means of the two plots.
The means are very similar. Duke has an average of 26.9 wins per season and UNC has a mean of 26.8
wins per season.
b. Now click on the ruler in the teal menu of the graph and select median. Compare the medians of the two dot
plots in the context of the data.
The medians of both dot plots are 28 wins per season.
c. Why is the mean lower than the median on both dot plots?
Since both dot plots are skewed to the left, the lower numbers (possible outliers) affect the mean by making it
lower.
4. Click on the ruler and select box plot & standard deviation. Explore these measures of the two distributions.
a. Which team has more variation in their number of wins? How can you tell?
Answer could be either team with justification.
Duke: UNC has a range of 28 points and Duke only has a range of 26 points. Also, Duke has a lower IQR of
7.25 with UNC having an IQR of 8.25. So, using range and IQR, Duke appears to have less spread.
UNC: Even though Duke has a smaller range and IQR, UNC is more consistent overall in wins. UNC has a
lower standard deviation and fewer outliers.
b. According to your answer above, which team is more consistent in the number of wins?
Various Answers
c. Each team has one or more outliers. How do the outliers affect the spread of the data?
The outliers skew the distributions to the left.
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EMS 580 Fall 2018 Jennifer Orr & Dagmara Ciliano
Statistics Lesson Plan
ANSWER THE QUESTION: WHO IS THE BETTER TEAM?
The two teams are very similar in their number of wins over the past 40 years with Duke having a total of 1077 wins and UNC
having a total of 1073 wins over that time period. Use CODAP to explore other attributes to determine who is the better team.
Create dot plots and explore adding statistical measures to the graphs to investigate and compare the teams. Take a
screenshot of the dot plot you think best displays which team is the better team according to this data. You will upload this
screenshot in padlet and write a brief conclusion backing up your claim.
What graph do you think best displays which team is the better team? Various Answers
Compare the dot plots on this graph using SOCS. Various Answers
Why do you think this graph in particular was helpful in your conclusion? Various answers
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