Statistics Unit 1: The Basics of Statistics Lesson 8 AIM: What is range and how can it be misleading?

SWBAT: Calculate range. Understand how range can be misleading? Materials: Golfing Range Activity* DO NOW: [5 Minutes] Given the following set of data on the ages of teachers at AMS: [REALLY GOOD EXAMPLE!!] {22, 22, 22, 23, 24, 24, 24, 25, 25, 26, 26, 26, 26, 27, 27, 27, 28, 28, 29, 29, 34, 37, 40, 45} 1. Find the mean. 2. Find the median. 3. Describe how the following data set is spread out. MINI-LESSON: [10 minutes] TEACHER: The age of teacher at AMS spans 22 to 45. What is the range of the age in which teachers fall? STUDENTS: 45-22 = 23 years. TEACHER: What does it mean when I say that the range of teachers ages is 23? STUDENTS: 23 years is how spread out the ages of teachers are TEACHER: Thats a good way of thinking it. The span of 23 years between 22-45 is where all of the teachers fall in age. This is a way of thinking about how our data is spread out. What type of issues may arise from thinking about the spread of the ages in this way? [Lead students to say that the majority of teachers actually fall in the mid-20s] Are most of the teachers at our school over the age of 20? 30? 40? Where do most of our teachers fall in age? STUDENTS: They are mostly in their 20s. TEACHER: So then how is the range misleading? STUDENTS: The range tells us that the spread of the ages is 23 years22-45, but in actuality, most teachers fall at the lower end in the 20s. TEACHER: Exactly. So range is INDEPENDENT PRACTICE: [30 min] Students will be asked to complete an activity where they have to determine how far they must hit a golf ball so that it will fall in different areas of a golf course (putting green, fairway, bunker, etc.). After they find the shortest distance and longest distance (using a ruler, where 1 cm = 3 yards?) they can hit the ball in order to fall in the given section, they will calculate the range in which the ball must fall. This range can be misleading, however, because depending on the angle at which the ball is hit, it can actually fall in different places on the course. This is a HECKOF AN EXAMPLE- GUTSY!! Golf is not in their usual world, but this just might work.. I LIKE IT Picture Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Golf_field.svg For example, if the golfer is trying to hit the ball within the putting green

They find that the shortest distance that the ball must be hit is 150 yards and the furthest it could be hit is 190 yards in order to fall in the putting green. This means that the golfer has a range of 40 yards in which the ball can be hit. This can be very misleading, however, because if the ball is hit at a different angle, this range is useless. WRAP-UP: [10 min] TEACHER: Students must be able to calculate range and also identify ways in which it can be misleading in real life. Questions: 1. Why is range used in real life? What are some examples in which range is used in real life? 2. How can a range be misleading? What are some examples in real life in which range can be misleading?

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