AP Statistics Students

AP Statistics Students:June 1st , 2012

Hello to you my upcoming students! I hope you are having a great end to the school year! I hope that you are able to have a relaxing summer. This is why I only ask a few things of you as a summer assignment. I have included a few short assignments to refresh your memory of the background statistical measures and skills that you will be using in the beginning of the course. (These are also on my website) Please complete these gradually during the time remaining this yearor over the summer as you prepare to take AP Statistics starting in the fall.Utilize websites as assistance, such as Wikipedia or I will ask you to submit this work as the evidence of your learning and preparation.

• Please watch the following video, from the TED conference held each year in California, and respond fully to the accompanying set of questions.
• Here is a second video, . This video quotes a great number of statistics. As you watch this video, determine what is most influential and persuasive. Respond to the provided questions regarding this video.
• 1 page Summer assignment questions

The goal of this or any first level college statistics course is to use and understand the context of data and to become an analytical consumer of data in life experiences.The AP Exam is in early May. As you begin the course this fall, we will investigate specific statistical skills that will be tested. One of the keys to doing well on the exam is to also be able to clearly communicate about statistics. You should begin to expand your knowledge base in this direction. Over the summer, stay current with news reporting that share statistical comparisons and studies that have been conducted. Learn to think critically about the reliability of what is being reported. The past several years’ students did extremely well on the exam and I hope some changes I have made, and will continue to make, to the course will help you to be even more successful.

In May, after the AP Statistics date, you will be requiredto complete a data study project that you conduct and present. Please use the time until then to think about possible topics that may interest you. News media of current events may prove to be valuable resources in choosing ideas. If you are interested in seeing the example projects that I have from this year and last year, please feel free to stop by my classroom, B139. We will discuss this project in far greater detail as the course begins. We will be utilizing the computer software MiniTab® throughout the semester. Many of the students last year also found it valuable to have a USB flash drive to store their project throughout that last portion of the course or to set up a Dropbox.com account for sending files back and forth to their home computer.

Looking forward to seeing you in class this fall!

Mrs. Waddell

AP Statistics

Summer Assignment 2012

Directions: Carefully read the problems presented. Work each problem on your own paper. All written answers must be in complete sentences. Proofread your answers. Be precise.

Our study of statistics revolves around analyzing data. The first task of the statistician is to put the raw data into a form that supports this analysis.

To determine the death age reported in a major metropolitan U.S. city, a sociology class randomly selected 37 obituaries from the city's largest newspaper. The sample consists of 18 males (DAgeM) and 19 females (DAgeF).

1. Using this data, create the following statistical graphs or plots

1. Parallel box-and-whiskers plots
2. Histograms
3. Back-to-Back Stem and Leaf Plot

1. Using your sets of statistic plots, describe the characteristics of these data sets, specifically

1. The shape of the distribution of ages of death
2. The centers of the distributions
3. The range or spread of the data in each distribution

1. Besides the graphical interpretation of the data, calculate the following statistics for both the male and female data

1. Mean
2. Median
3. Standard Deviation
4. InterquartileRange

1. The final task of a statistician is to interpret the data in a meaningful manner. Write a brief paragraph (three to five sentences) that compares and contrasts these data sets and provides some insight into the age of death of males and females in this city.

Malcolm Gladwell video Questions:

Respond to each question thoroughly ( put your responses on notebook paper or word process). Your responses may include personal opinions and connections to prior knowledge.

1. Mr. Gladwell mentions the need to “Ask the right questions.” Specifically what was he referring to and how does that relate to statistical data collections.
2. There is mention of a “mountain of data” and the necessary analysis. Explain your best understanding of what he explains to the audience. Include any statistical measures that seem appropriate to his study
3. What does the term “Experimental Design” mean? (in reference to Mr.Gladwell’s description of Howard Moskowitz’s work and in other real-life data collections)
4. Beyond the video, what additional studies can you find or recall that have resulted in business decisions that were made based upon the data. Use web resources, parents conversations, your workplace, etc. to learn more about data analysis (sometimes called quality control, risk management, data mining.) We will use your experiences as reference points in class.

Internet Statistics video Questions

1. Which of the reported statistics surprised you the most? Explain why they are surprising.
2. Were there any statistics reported that you question the reliability or accuracy of the calculation? Report your reasoning.
3. Many people would say that you can make a statistic say whatever you want. Presenting information with quoted statistics often takes on a persuasive purpose. Describe a few instances where you can recall this scenario in things you have read or watched.