Education Technology


Square it Up!

Activity Overview

Students investigate the method of least squares by finding the residuals and the sum of the squares of the residuals.

Key Steps

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    Students use the data about life expectancies from the year 1900 to 2004 to create a scatter plot. They will investigate the method of least squares by finding a line of better fit and then using lists to calculate the sum of the squares.

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    Students are asked to compare their sum with a partner’s and then are given a set of questions that direct them to discover the principles of a regression line. Finally, they will compare their line and sum with the handheld’s regression line.