Course 1 Unit 1
Lesson 1 Investigation 2-Describing Patterns in Data
Page 7
1. We will discuss the group guidelines as a class.
a. How could your group encourage everyone to contribute ideas?
b. How could your group ensure that everyone else listens while someone is talking?
c. How could your group ensure that each person understands and agrees with the group’s decisions?
2 a Eminem could have received his 90 points by getting 7 first-place votes, 2 third place
votes, and a seventh-place vote. Find two other ways that Eminem could have
received his 90 points.
b. What is the largest possible number of points an artist or group could have received?
c Does it appear that the rankings of the 22 executives were a lot alike, or do you think
there was substantial disagreement in their rankings?
3 a. Whose response does your group think was the most complete and helpful?
Why?
b. What would you do to improve the response that you chose as the best?
4 a. In your group, discuss the organization of this stem-and-leaf plot. Is the plot an accurate display of the data in the chart? If not, explain how to correct it.
b. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Paul’s response?
c. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Maria’s response?
d. As a group, write what you as a group think would be a better response than either Paul’s or Maria’s.
5. Make your stem and leaf plot at the right.
6. a. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Desmond’s response?
b. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Regina’s response?
c. Agree as a group on a better response and write your response here:
7. Class Discussion
Checkpoint:
In this investigation, you explored characteristics of good written responses.
a. What are the important features of a good response when you are asked to describe something?
b. What are the important features of a good response when you are asked to explain your reasoning?
c. What are the important features of a good response when you are asked to compare two or more things?
8. Use the graph and table reproduced from page 12 to answer the questions in your text.
Does Education Pay?
Average Monthly Earnings (Adults 18 and Over)
Level of Education / Average Monthly Earnings (in dollars)No high school diploma / 1,338
High school diploma only / 1996
Vocational degree / 2,141
Associate's degree / 2,706
Bachelor's degree / 3,649
Master's degree / 4,400
Doctorate degree / 6,226
Professional degree (e.g. medicine) / 7,957
a. On the average, what would a U.S. worker make in year if the person was not a high school graduate?
b. On the average, what is the difference in yearly earnings between a high school graduate with no further education and a person without a high school diploma?
9. Look at the pattern of change in average monthly earnings for the categories “no high school” through “doctorate degree.”
a. From which level of education to the next is the largest jump in average monthly
earnings?
b.From which level to the next is the second largest jump in average monthly
earnings?
c. Did you use the table or bar graph in answering Parts a and b? Explain why you chose the display(s) you did.
10. Now it’s your turn. Write a question that interests your group and can be answered using these data. Write the answer to your question, too.
11. Write a summary of the conclusions you can draw using the information in the table and the graph. Be careful: some professional degrees may not require as many years of education as some master’s and doctorate degrees.
Checkpoint:
Review your work on “Does Education Pay?”
a. Compare the information shown in the table and the bar graph. In what ways is the graph better than the table for displaying the data on average monthly earnings? In what ways is it worse?
b. How could your analysis of these data be used to plan for your own future?
c. How has your group work improved since the first day of class? How could you further improve your group work next time?
Course 1 Unit 1 Lesson 1 Investigation 2 Page 6 of 6