Activity Overview
This activity is designed to introduce students to using the STAT function of the calculator to determine the equation for a line of best fit.
Before the Activity
Prior to this activity, students should be experienced in identifying independent and dependent variables, creating scatterplots of data, drawing a line of best fit,determining the equation of a line of best fit manually, and using the fitted equation to predict values.
During the Activity
During the activity, it is beneficial if students can be logged into TI-Navigator. Using screen capture will allow the teacher to more closely monitor the progress of students. It may also be beneficial to use SmartView during the activity to guide students through the activity. As the activity ends, using the screen capture of TI-Navigator will allow students to view each student's calculator screen and see that all students have the same linear regression equation.
After the Activity
After the activity, a nice follow-up is the "Tracks of a Killer" activity from the Forensics EXPLORATIONS book.