Christina Pateracki
In this issue you will find articles that capture students' interest and present hands-on techniques for teaching important statistical concepts. Laboratory experiences in which students gain firsthand knowledge of probability and data analysis are also featured.
William L. Rubink and Sylvia R. Taube
A field-tested interdisciplinary-unit activity that involves collecting data about honeybees. Middle school students will gain hands-on experiences with collecting, transforming, and analyzing data by using the techniques employed by entomologists, the scientists who study insects.
Lynda R. Wiest and Robert J. Quinn
A dice game used by students as a basis for exploring mathematical probabilities and decision making.
Helen M. Doerr, Cathieann Rieff, and Jason Tabor
A calculator-based lab allows students to bring graphs to life by turning their own motion into a graph that can be analyzed, investigated, and most important, interpreted in terms of how they actually moved.
Kay McClain
Data analysis, graphs, and the role of representative values. Also, the importance of teachers' supporting students' development of conceptual understandings of multiple forms of data representation and representative values in the context of ongoing data analysis.
Gary D. Kader
Included activity builds a framework for developing students' understanding of the notion of variation from the mean. The activity is a modification and an extension of one described by Friel, Mokros, and Russell (1992).
Susan N. Friel and William T. O'Connor
An investigation focuses on comparing data sets by using data about thirty-seven brands of peanut butter and their quality ratings. Data set is included.
June G. Morita
Included activity boosts student confidence by seeing they have already masterd the mathematics behind an estimation technique used by scientists.