Verona High School

AP Statistics

2014 Summer Assignment

Bob Cashill

...908-403-7370

VHS AP Statistics 2014 Summer Assignment

The Urban Dictionarydefines AP Statistics as:

A division of math that requires much writing and analytical thought. Taken by AP nerds, those hell bent on going to the 'best' colleges, or by those with a masochistic streak. Can be taken in place of Calculus, or, for those who really enjoy self-punishment, concurrently. Mostly taken by seniors.

"I'm taking AP Statistics this year because I don't feel like taking AP Calc, but my year wouldn't be hellish enough without it."

Welcome to AP Statistics! This course will be unlike any other math class you have ever taken! To get the most out of this course you need to be competent in basic algebra, be familiar with basic statistical measures, understand how to use a TI-Nspire calculator, and, most importantly,be willing to explain your answers, not just simply get the correct answer.

Although this isa math course, AP Statistics concentrates much more heavily on thinking, reasoning, writing, and communicating than it does on number-crunching. Graphing calculators and computer software programs will do most of the tedious “busy work” for you.

This course is focused on four interrelated areas of concentration;

  • Exploring Data. What patterns in a set of data do you see? What do these tell us about the data? What can we learn from them?
  • Sampling and Experimenting. What plan would you implement to conduct a study? Can you effectively write a proposal for simulating a real-world situation?
  • Anticipating Patterns. What can you surmise about random phenomena by using probability? How can you extrapolate your model into the future? What might you hope to have happen?
  • Statistical Inference. How can you apply given parameters to your test hypothesis to see if it is valid?

This summer assignment is meant to introduce you to the wide world (cliché #1) of statistics, to have you "hit the ground running" (cliché #2) and allow us to move at a "fast and furious” (cliché #3) pace throughout the year.

Since you will obviously have many other things to do this summer, pace yourself! 60-90 minutes per week, on average, or 8-10 hours on the night before school starts, should enable you to do all of the required work.

Please feel free to call, text, or email me over the summer if you have questions or run into difficulties with completing the work.

All of the summer assignment requirements are due by the 3rd class session of the year with the exception of F—Become an Expert on Sampling & Surveys. This must be done by the first day of class.

The work must be done entirely by you. You can text or email me at any time for assistance but the work must be your own.

A. Buy a TI-Nspire Calculator

It is strongly recommended that you buy a TI-Nspire™ CX CAS Handheldcalculator if you do not already have one. All of the examples and problems we will work on will be based on this calculator. If you cannot afford a TI-Nspire or do not think it worth the money, buy one anyway and I will buy it back from you at the end of the year. You will be using your calculator almost every class period and familiarity with it is easily worth 0.5-1.0 points on the AP Exam.

While we do have a few older model class calculators, using them is like wearing someone else’s football cleats or using someone’s baseball glove. Make a commitment to succeed in the course by having your very own calculator.

B. Visit My AP Statistics Web Site

Become familiar with the AP Stats resources on my VHS Web page—. The page will be updated regularly during the summer and the school year. Copies of this assignment as well as links to the web sites mentioned here are on the site. There is also a link to our AP Statistics eBook—The Practice of Statistics, 4th Edition (TPS4E).

C.Experiment with StatCrunch. StatCrunch is a powerful web-based statistical software that allows users to perform complex analyses, share data sets, and generate compelling reports. A full range of numerical and graphical methods allow users to analyze any data set.

Find a data set of 20-50+ individuals (The objects described by a data set—not necessarily people) that you are interested in. Examples include:

  • The salaries of the New York Giants (
  • The top movie grosses of all times (
  • The most expensive celebrity weddings (
  • State populations
  • World health statistics
  • Etc., etc., etc.

and are great data sites and StatCrunch has a ton of data sets as well.

Assignment. Log into StatCrunch at I have set up three distinct sign-in IDs that you can use to explore StatCrunch with your data set—select one to use over the summer:

ID: veronastats

Password: verona2014

Cut and paste or type in your data set and experiment with the site. Try as many different applications and analyses as possible. Remember to save your work with a distinct name. (Use your initials because many students will be using the same ID.) Your goal is to be very, very comfortable with StatCrunch when school starts.

If you need help visit these videos on YouTube:

Deliverables. Nothing needs to be turned in. You may want to keep copies of some of the more unique/difficult procedures but nothing is turned in. How will I know that you did this?--The Honor System.

D.Watch (and Take Notes on) The Joy of Stats

The Joy of Stats is a 59 minute long documentary which takes viewers on a rollercoaster ride through the wonderful world of statistics to explore the remarkable power they have to change our understanding of the world. It is presented by superstar boffin (British slang for a particularly clever person even though he is not British) Professor Hans Rosling, whose eye-opening, mind-expanding and funny online lectures have made him an international internet legend.

Rosling's presentations are grounded in solid statistics illustrated by the visualization software he developed. The animations transform development statistics into moving bubbles and flowing curves that make global trends clear, intuitive and even playful. During his legendary presentations, Rosling takes this one step farther, narrating the animations with a sportscaster's flair.

You can view the video at

Please completeAttachment Aas you watch the video.

E. Create a Real World Statistics Portfolio

The beauty of statistics is that it is all around us. We see examples of good and bad stats (See graph at the right) every single day in newspapers and magazines, on newscasts and sporting events and on a host of web sites--especially those dealing with politics, the economy and the government.

To really see how statistics impacts our lives, a major part of your summer assignment is to develop a Real World Statistics Portfolio.

Begin to collect newspaper, magazine, video or internet articles/stories/advertisementsthat include statistical concepts--both good and bad. These may include things like graphs, charts or tables. They may also report conclusions made as a result of looking at data—e.g., newspaper/internet reports on drug/social/psychology studies.

For each article/web page/etc., highlight the statistics mentioned andanswer the following questions:

  1. What is the source of the data? When and where was it published?
  2. What was the purpose of the article/statistic/data? Why was it written/produced?

b. Were any conclusions stated? If so, what were they?

c. Is the article/statistics/data convincing? Do you believe the stated results? Explain.

You must have at least 6 articles by September from at least 3 different sources. Each article must be current—that is, it must have appeared in the news from 6/1/14-9/1/14.

Good resources for statistics articles/charts include:

  • The Newark Star-Ledger
  • The New York Times
  • The Washington Post
  • Huffington Post (
  • Significance Magazine (
  • The Wall Street Journal’s Numbers Guy (
  • BBC News Interactives and Graphics (
  • Nate Silver’s 538 blog (
  • The Onion (
  • Freakonomics (

Attachment Bis a sample of an article and the format that the articles must be submitted in. Each article must be printed out and taped/pasted on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper with the required info on the back.

F. Become an Expert on Sampling & Surveys

We will start the course in Chapter 4—Designing Studies. We need to know how to collect representative data before we can begin to do any statistical analysis. There are three Learning Targets (LTs) in this chapter—Sampling and Surveys, Experiments and Using Studies Wisely.

How you study this subject is up to you. Again, there is no work to turn in but we will be designing and conducting a sampling survey the first class day, so please be prepared. Select one of the three options below or Google/YouTube “Sampling and Surveys” and find another one to your liking.

  1. Read Section 4.1 in TPS4E

You can access the textbook from my web page using the following convoluted instructions:

  1. Log on to
  2. Click on the AP Statistics e-Book link
  3. Log in on the top of the screen with the e-mail address and the password vhs2013
  4. Click on the eBook tab and log in again on the eBook cover page.
  5. Scroll to Chapter 4
  1. Watch These YouTube Videos

Statistics: Sample Surveys, Bias, and Sampling Methods)

Statistics: Sample Surveys: Methods to Collect and Bias in Samples)

  1. Watch this PowerPoint Presentation

G. Understand Academic Integrity

Academic integrity essentially means "intellectual honesty": honesty in the use of information, in formulating arguments, and in other activities related to the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. It is a core principle that underpins how we live and learn in a community of inquiry. As members of an academic community, we are entitled to a wide degree of freedom in the pursuit of scholarly interests. With that freedom, however, comes the responsibility to uphold the high ethical standards of academic conduct.

If I were to ask each of the AP Stats students their definition of “Academic Integrity”, I would probably get different answers from everyone in the class.

A lot of the work you will be doing in AP Stats involves partners or small groups. In addition, many of the tests are open-book, take-home tests. Because of the nature of the course it is imperative that each and every one of us has the exact same understanding of what constitutes “Academic Integrity.”

Every assignment that you do for credit in AP Statistics will require you to sign an honor pledge—“On my honor, I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this assignment.” No signature, no grade.

The goal of this summer assignment is to get you to better understand Academic Integrity and Honor in a high school setting.

Assignment

  1. Go to the web page for the college you hope to/expect to go to and print out their Academic Integrity/Honor System/Honor Code. Read it, highlight it and be prepared to discuss the following:
  • Who runs the honor system?
  • What constitutes breeches of the college’s honor system?
  • What penalties are there?
  • Your comments on whether you agree or disagree with the college’s statements.
  1. Watch a short video entitled “Washington and Lee Honor System: An Orientation. You can find this video at

Washington & Lee is my alma mater and our AP Stats honor system is based on their system.

G.Beach Reading/Listening/Watching

If you have the time and want to delve a little further into the world of statistics, try out one or more of the following resources. Not required at all.

Books

  • Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Levitt and Dubner
  • The Drunkard’s Walk, How Randomness Rules Our Livesby LeonardMlodinow
  • Predictably Irrationalby Dan Ariely,
  • Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians, and Activists, J.Best, University of California Press, 2001.
  • A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper, J. A. Paulos, Basic Books, 1995.
  • 200% of Nothing, A. K. Dewdney, John Wiley and Sons, 1993.
  • Bringing Down the House: How Six Students Took Vegas for Millons, B. Mezrich, Free Press, 2002
  • Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, M. Lewis, Norton, 2003
  • Tainted Truth: The Manipulation of Fact In America, C. Crossen
  • The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How It Changed Science,Cities, and the Modern World, S. Johnson
  • The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, M. Gladwell, Little, Brown & Co., 2002

Videos (TED Talks)

  • The Freakononics of Crack Dealing:
  • Surprising Stats about Child Car Seats:
  • What We Learned from 5,000,000 Books:
  • How Juries are Fooled by Statistics:
  • Why Smart Statistics are the Key to Fighting Crime:
  • Does Racism Affect How You Vote?:
  • Flip Your Thinking About AIDS in Africa:

AP Statistics 2014 Checklist

On my honor, I have completed the following summer assignments and have turned in the required material.”

Signed: ______Name: ______

Assignment / Yes / No / If “No”, What great excuse do you have?
A. / Buy/Own a TI-Nspire Calculator.
B. / Visit
C. / Experiment with StatCrunch.
D. / Watch “The Joy of Statistics” & turn in Attachment A.
E. / Create a Real World Statistics Portfolio (Turn in 6 articles).
F. / Become an Expert on Sampling & Surveys.
G. / Understand Academic Integrity
(Turn in a college honor system printout).
H. / Beach Reading.

Attachment A--“TheJoyofStatistics”

HansRosling@

As you watch the video, please fillintheblanksinthefollowingstatements.

1.Swedenhas boats,whichmeansoneoutof peopleownaboat.

2.Theaveragehumansleeps yearsoftheirlife.

3.Hansofficialareaofexpertiseis .

4.The suppliesalargeamountofthedatathatHansusesinhispresentations.

5.ChrisVienisthe forSanFrancisco.

6.Thewordstatisticscomesfromtheword .

7.Statisticswerestartedin in1749whentheystartedrecordinginformationon ,,

.

8.Thesedatawerepublishedinthe .

9.Swedenestimatedtheyhadapopulationof millionuntiltheystartedcollectingdatafoundtheyonlyhadapopulationof ______million.

10.Ittook yearsbeforetheothercountriesinEuropestartedcollectingusingstatistics.

11.Theearlytermforstatisticswas .

12.DavidSpeigelhaltertalkedaboutthe SocietyofLondonwasintriguedthatin1842theykeptstatisticson rates.

13.Henotedthat hadthehighestrates.

14.BabbagewroteTennysonaboutalineinhispoem“”indicatingthatthecorrectnumbershouldbe .

15.InHans200yearanalysis,heuses ashistwovariables.

16.Hanswasbornin .

17.ForSwedenresidents,theaveragenumberoflegsis legs/person.

18.FrancisGaltoncameuptheconcept/realizationofthe .

19.ThePoissondistributiondescribesthenumberofPrussianOfficers bytheirhorseseachyear.

20.FlorenceNightingalestartedcollectingdataon atagenine.

21.Duringthewarshecollectedmortalitydatagraphedthedatausing .

22.BycomparingdietsofAmericanstotheJapaneseFrench,thejokegoesthatheartattacksdon’tkillyou,

killsyou.

23.Inthe1950’s,SirRichardDoll1stshowedthecorrelationbetween .

24.Dataisthe ofscience.

25. kickedoffthe1stdataexplosion.

26.Asingleletterisabout ofdata.

27.Itwasestimatedthattheinternetwillcontain ofdataby2010.

28.PeterNorvigisthe @Google.

29.HansisveryintriguedinterestedinGoogle’s .

30.Sweden’sgoalintheOlympicsisnottowin,butto .

31.TheSloanSkySurveyorislocatedatanobservatoryin .

32.SepKamvarofStanfordisworkingona database.

33.Womenfeel more,butalsofeel .

34.Menfeel more,butfeelmore .

35.Youngpeopleassociatehappywith .

36.Olderpeopleassociatehappywith .

Attachment B—Real World Statistics Portfolio

Marijuana and race: ACLU finds blacks in New Jersey arrested at 3 times the rate of whites

By Star-Ledger Staff The Star-Ledgeron June 04, 2013 at 10:20 AM, updated June 05, 2013 at 10:35 AM

By Seth Augenstein and James Queally

Black people in the U.S. are nearly four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people - despite comparable usage rates, according to an American Civil Liberties Union report released today.

Blacks are nearly three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites in New Jersey, and roughly four times as likely nationwide, according to a report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union that showed a deep racial divide in arrests in several counties throughout the state.

While the two races use marijuana at roughly the same rate, the report said, blacks were up to 30 times more likely to be arrested in some parts of the country. In two Alabama counties, for example, 100 percent of those arrested for marijuana possession in 2010 were black, the report said.

Nationwide, blacks were arrested at a rate of 716 per 100,000 in 2010 — the most recent year studied — up from 537 in 2001, according to the report. Whites were arrested at a rate of 192 per 100,000 in 2010, nearly the same as in 2001. The report also said marijuana arrests accounted for more than half of all drug arrests in the country, and roughly 43 percent in New Jersey.

The report was compiled using data from FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports and the U.S. Census. It does not specify how police came to make the arrests or if the arrests were made in conjunction with other crimes. However, the ACLU said the arrests were not connected to violent crime.

Alexander Shalom, policy counsel for the state chapter of the ACLU, said the racial divide could be deeper if adjusted for the Hispanic population, which is counted as white in FBI reports.

Still, the data is clear evidence that police across the country unfairly target minorities in order to pump up arrest totals, according to one of the report’s authors.

"The war on marijuana has disproportionately been a war on people of color," said Ezekiel Edwards, director of the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project.

According the report, blacks in New Jersey were 2.8 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites, below the national average of 3.73.

Several counties reported deep disparities in arrest rates.

In Hunterdon County, where more than 90 percent of the population is white, blacks were five times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession, the report said. Five other counties — Ocean, Monmouth, Mercer, Warren and Salem counties — had disparities higher than the national average, the report said.

Law enforcement officials were quick to note the limitations of the study.

Toms River Police Chief Michael Mastronardy said it would be difficult to determine racism as a motive for the disparity without knowing how police came to make those arrests. Marijuana arrests are often secondary to motor vehicle stops or domestic disturbances, situations in which officers are dispatched without knowing the race of the people involved.

"If you’re stopping somebody at night, you don’t know (the race)," he said, adding the same is true " if you’re called to a disturbance and you start running warrants."

John Kuczynski, chief of detectives for the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office, shot down any suggestion police in his county were making arrests based on race. He said the bulk of marijuana arrests in the county are the result of motor-vehicle stops, but added that he is willing to discuss the report’s findings with the ACLU.

"It’s not based upon race," he said. "It’s based upon offense whoever is trafficking."

The state Attorney General’s Office declined to comment. Calls to law enforcement leaders in Monmouth, Salem and Warren counties were not retuned.

A graphic from the ACLU report "The War on Marijuana in Black and White" shows how black people are 2.8 times likelier to be arrested for marijuana than white people in New Jersey. Some of the counties with the higher disparities are rural areas, like Hunterdon, Warren and Salem counties.