#1837. Stats on Rdeuced-Fat

Mathematics, level: Middle
Posted Tue Jul 4 00:40:47 PDT 2000 by Shawn Moorhead (psmoor@sgi.net).
I.U.P., Blairsville, PA
Materials Required: TI-82, graphing paper, nutrition lables
Activity Time: 45 min
Concepts Taught: Five-Number Summary & Boxplots

RATIONALE

This is one of several lessons on probability and statistics. It reviews the concepts of
Five-Number Summary and Box-Plots by using the information off of nutrition labels of
regular and reduced fat items. The Five-Number Summary of the class data is
reviewed and analyzed through graphs and certain functions of the graphing calculator.
In addition to the lesson, the students will demonstrate their understanding by analyze
the data, forming a hypothesis, and supporting it by using the concepts of the
Five-Number Summary and Box-Plots.

Prerequisites:
The students should have a basic concept of a TI-82 calculator or something
compatible and what the Five-Number Summary contains and to be able to graph a
Box-Plot.

Materials Required:

A different nutrition label, half regular and half reduced fat, off certain items for
each student, .
a graphics calculator (TI-82 or compatible)
graphing paper for each student

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Objective
After the completion of this activity using different nutrition labels from regular and
reduced fat items and graphics calculators, students will be able to demonstrate their
understanding of the Five-Number Summary and Box-Plots by analyze the data from
the nutrition lables, forming a hypothesis, and supporting it by using the concepts of the
Five-Number Summary and Box-Plots, with 100% accuracy.

More specifically, the students will be able to:

gather the nutritional information from each item and be able to enter the data into
the graphics calculator.
analyze the data and form a hypothesis of whether there is a significant difference
between the two groups: Regular and Reduced Fat.
use the graphics calculator to calculate the Five-Number Summary: minimum value,
Q1, median, Q3, maximum value.
graph Box-Plots of the data with the graphics calculator.
use the Five-Number Summaries and Box-Plots to support their hypothesis.

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Anticipatory Set: (Lesson Introduction/Motivation)
The teacher will divide the class into two groups. For the first group, the teacher will
distribute a different nutrition label from the regular items and assign a number which is
written on the board to every student. For the second group, the teacher will distribute
a different nutrition label from the reduced fat items and assign a number which is
written on the board to every student. The teacher will have the students go up to the
board and write down the "Calories From Fat" from their nutrition label beside their
assigned number under their group. After the data is written on the board, the teacher
will have students describe any difference between the data within a group and
between groups and discuss whether any item(s) stick out as being very different? The
teacher will have students discuss whether there is any significant difference between
the regular items and their reduced fat counterparts.
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Procedure:

Finding The Five-Number Summary
The teacher will show the students how to enter the data, "Calories from Fat,"
under their ID number in their calculators under L1 for Regular and L2 for Reduced
Fat. The teacher will then review the Five-Number Summary and how it determine it's
five components: minimum value, Q1, Median, Q3, maximum value. The teacher will
then show the students how to calculate the five components on their calculators for the
two lists of "Calories from Fat." The teacher will then have the students compare the
five components they calculated to further back-up their hypothesis of whether their is a
significant difference between regular and reduced fat.

Box-Plots
The teacher will then review with the students how to create a box-plot. The
students will create a box-plot of the data for their group on a piece of graphing paper.
After the students complete their graphs, the teacher will then show them how to graph
their box-plots on the calculators. The students will then compare their graph with the
one on the calculator. The teacher will then have the students graph the data from the
other group using the calculators and then drawing it on the same graphing paper. The
students should compare with each other to make sure they have the same graphs.
The teacher will question the students understanding by asking, "What does the two
box-plots show about the data; does the graphs agree with their predictions; Why?"
After the activity is complete, the teacher will have the students write a paragraph
(described in Evaluation).
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Evaluation: (How to Determine the Effectiveness of the
Lesson)

Can students answer Teacher's guided questions accurately.
The teacher will have the students write a paragraph stating their hypothesis of
whether there is a significant difference between regular and reduced fat and use
the two-box plots to support their claim.