Education Technology

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  • Subject Area

    • Math: PreAlgebra: Probability, Statistics and Data Analysis
    • Math: Middle Grades Math: Statistics and Probability
    • Math: PreAlgebra: Linear Functions

  • Author

    Texas Instruments

  • Level

    6-8

  • Activity Time

    60 Minutes

  • Device
    • TI-30X IIB
    • TI-30X IIS
    • TI-34 II Explorer Plus™
  • Other Materials
      This is Activity 11 from the EXPLORATIONS Book:
      Math Investigations with the TI-30X IIS and TI-34 II: Activities for the Middle Grades

      You will need the following materials for this activity:
    • Colored pencils
    • Graph paper
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The Ordinary Man

Activity Overview

Students estimate the heights of people and compare the estimates to the actual heights in a scatter plot.

Before the Activity

  • See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity
  • Print pages 107 - 111 from the attached PDF file for your class
  • During the Activity

    Distribute the pages to the class.

    Follow the activity procedures:

  • Write down the names of some famous people in the table
  • Estimate their heights and record the estimation
  • Note down the actual heights
  • Using the calculator, convert the estimated and actual heights into inches
  • Graph a scatter plot of estimated height versus actual height [both in inches]
  • Determine the number of people for which the estimate was correct
  • Determine the number of people for which the estimate was too high or too low
  • Understand that if all the estimates matched the actual heights, the line would represent y = x
  • Recognize the fact that if an estimate was high, the coordinates for that point would lie above the line y = x, and if the estimate was low, the point would lie below the line
  • After the Activity

    Students complete the Student Activity pages.

  • Review student results
  • As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging
  • Re-teach concepts as necessary