Investigating Variation Using Hands-On Activities

Aaron Weinberg

Ithaca College

Data Entry

http://bit.ly/9kqGPU

Cayugan Crested Platypus

Cayugan Crested Platypus

(Source: http://www.jstor.org/pss/2401613)

(Source: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_TBo02pPkXnY/R-BvsRhqXHI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/Y-Q9zSfXdzE/s320/platypus+egg.jpg)

(Source: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/pollution/media/pol06a_240.jpg)

Cayugan Crested Platypus

Historical brood sizes

Number of Eggs

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

% of Nests

2/13 1/13 1/13 1/13 1/13 1/13 1/13 1/13 1/13 1/13 2/13

Card Q/K A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10/J

Cayugan Crested Platypus

1. How many eggs do you expect to find in a nest?

2. What brood sizes would be alarming?

3. How many nests to find 20 eggs?

Cayugan Crested Platypus

1. Collect data

2. Enter in spreadsheet

3. Organize

4. Summarize

5. Analyze

6. Draw conclusions

Cayugan Crested Platypus

1. What would happen if we looked at average brood sizes for each researcher?

2. Collect “actual” data… is there cause for concern when you compare it to the historical data?

Playing the Lottery

(Source: http://blog.pennlive.com/midstate_impact/2008/05/large_LOTTERY_WINNER.jpg)

Playing the Lottery

Is buying a ($5) ticket a good investment?

Playing the Lottery

1. Collect data

2. Enter in spreadsheet

3. Organize

4. Summarize

5. Analyze

6. Draw conclusions

Playing the Lottery

What would happen if we looked at each person’s n-game average?

Designing Elevators

(Source: http://www.thyssenkruppelevator.com.cn/china/images/product/elevator.JPG)

Designing Elevators

• 1-Person Elevator

• 10-Person Elevator

• 30-Person Elevator

How heavy should the counterweight be?

What would a histogram of n-person elevator weights look like?

Designing Elevators

mean = 153.5 lbsst dev = 58.5 lbs

Spider Bites…

+ = ?

Are “Peter Parkers” more likely to turn into superheroes?

(Source: http://elementaryteacher.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/spiderman1.jpg)(Source http://z.about.com/d/chemistry/1/0/T/q/chemistrygeek.jpg)

Spider Bites…

• Gene expression– Blue: – Purple:

• Two populations:– Peter Parkers: X– Everybody Else: <blank>

(Source: http://up5.vox.com/6a00d4142ac0153c7f00d09e5ee9cfbe2b-50si)

(Source: http://www.casketinfo.com/casketinfo/caskets_images/casket.jpg)

Resources

• Software– Minitab:

http://www.minitab.com/en-US/academic/licensing-options.aspx

– Smith’s Statistical Package: http://www.economics.pomona.edu/StatSite/framepg.html (click on “StatPack”)

– Useful Applets: http://www.rossmanchance.com/applets/index.html