AP Statistics

							                               AP Statistics
                            Buford High School
                                Ms. Davis


I.    Course Design
        This AP Statistics course is taught primarily by lecture but is also based
        heavily on activities designed for students to be proficient at college level
        work and to develop their own understanding of the concepts and
        applications of statistics. (C4)

        The four main studies integrated throughout the course are:
        Exploring Data, Planning and Designing a Study, Anticipating Patterns,
        and Statistical Inference.

        By chapter, the topics are:
        Exploring Data, Describing Location in a Distribution, Examining
        Relationships, More about Relationships between Two Variables,
        Producing Data, Probability and Simulation: The Study of Randomness,
        Random Variables, The Binomial and Geometric Distributions, Sampling
        Distributions, Estimating with Confidence, Testing a Claim, Significance
        Tests in Practice, Comparing Two Population Parameters, Inference for
        Distributions of Categorical Variables: Chi-Square Procedures, and
        Inference for Regression.


II.   Technology
        Students will be expected to be adept with a graphic calculator;
        specifically the TI-83. They must also be literate with respect to basic
        computer applications and program printouts as they will be using Minitab
        data in preparation for the exam. There are a few of the TI-83 calculators
        available to be issued for those students without access to one. (C5)



III. Textbook(s)
        Daniel S. Yates, David S. Moore, and Daren S. Starnes. The Practice of
        Statistics, 3rd ed. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company, 2008
IV. Course Outline
      *ALL STUDENTS WILL TAKE THE AP EXAM IN MAY!
      UNIT 1 (Chapters 1, 2, 3, &4)
            Time: 12 weeks
            Title: Analyzing Data: Looking for Patterns and Departures from
                    Patterns (C2a)
            Topics:
                 Exploring Data
                 Describing Location in a Distribution
                 Examining Relationships
                 More about Relationships between Two Variables

      UNIT 2 (chapter 5)
            Time: 3 weeks
            Title: Producing Data: Surveys, Observational Studies, and
                    Experiments (C2b)
            Topic:
                 Producing Data

      UNIT 3 (chapters 6 - 9)
            Time: 9 weeks
            Title: Probability and Random Variables: Foundations for
                    Inference (C2c)
            Topics:
                 Probability and Simulations: The Study of Randomness
                 Random Variables
                 The Binomial and Geometric Distributions
                 Sampling Distributions

      UNIT 4 (chapters 10 – 15)
            Time: 8 weeks
            Title: Inference: Conclusions with Confidence (C2d)
            Topics:
                 Estimating with Confidence
                 Testing a Claim
                 Significance Tests in Practice
                 Comparing Two Population Parameters
                 Inference for Distributions of Categorical Variables: Chi-
                    Square Procedures

      REVIEW FOR AP EXAM
           Time: 2 weeks
           Topics: Units 1 – 4
           Assessment: Multiple Choice Questions, Free Response
                         Questions, Grading of Free Response Questions
V.    Teaching Strategies
        Though the course is taught primarily by lecture format, the students are
        also required to do individual outlines of each chapter and do activities
        both within groups and by themselves.
        The lecturer will also present itself in a facilitator capacity when working
        problems. Students will be guided by the lecture and directed through
        reading, trial-and-error, study groups, and guided exercises within the text
        to reach conclusions and/or inferences.

        The use of the TI-83 and the slight use of Minitab are imperative to the
        exploration, discovery, and development of statistical understanding.
        It is the desire of the mathematics department at Buford High School to
        produce competent learners, analyzers, and interpreters of all types of
        mathematical information. To this endeavor, the AP Statistics classroom
        will provide appropriate activities which make decision-making,
        justifying, validating, and assessing statistical hypotheses the highest
        priority. To do this, students will be required to work at the highest levels
        of Bloom’s Taxonomy; analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. (C3) They
        will be required to utilize the deductive skills needed for a two-column
        geometric proof and the inductive skills needed for paragraph proofs by
        contradiction.

VI.   After the AP Exam ALL STUDENTS WILL TAKE THE AP EXAM!
        Once the AP Exam has been administered (if time permits) students will
        produce and present a statistical survey if time allows. They will use the
        student body, faculty, or combination of student body and faculty as their
        population. The topics of the surveys will be chosen by the students and
        will reflect current social or political issues. The students will be required
        to give an oral presentation and evaluation of their findings. (C4)

VII. Assessments
        At the beginning of each unit each student is given a competency rubric
        for the major topics in the unit. The categories of evaluation are
        Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, and Unsatisfactory. Each chapter will be
        evaluated separately by a written test and then each unit will receive a
        competency grade from the rubric. Each competency grade may be
        reevaluated within 2 weeks of the original grade. The reevaluation and
        possible grade revision must be done outside of class and will require both
        a written and an oral presentation to the instructor.
   VIII. Additional Topics
              The following topics are not specifically mentioned in the course outline.
              However, these are integrated into the course as needed: Census,
              Clustering, Control Groups, Placebo Effect, Observational Study,
              Treatments, Experimental Units, Blind and Double-Blind Studies.




C2a: The course provides instruction in each of the following four broad conceptual
      themes outlined in the Course Description with appropriate emphasis on exploring
      data.

C2b: The course provides instruction in each of the following four broad conceptual
       themes outlined in the Course Description with appropriate emphasis on
       sampling and experimentation.

C2c: The course provides instruction in each of the following four broad conceptual
       themes outlined in the Course Description with appropriate emphasis on
       anticipating patterns.

C2d: The course provides instruction in each of the following four broad conceptual
      themes outlined in the Course Description with appropriate emphasis on statistical
      inferences.

C3—The course draws connections between all aspects of the statistical process,
     including design, analysis, and conclusions.

C4—The course teaches students how to communicate methods, results, and
     interpretations using the vocabulary of statistics.

C5—Evidence of Curricular Requirement: The courses teaches students how to use
     graphing calculators and demonstrates the use of computers and/or computer
     output to enhance the development of statistical understanding through exploring
     and analyzing data, assessing models, and performing simulations.