ap statistics syllabus

							                      AP Statistics Syllabus
Course Design
One of the greatest differences between teaching statistics and teaching other
mathematics courses is the ease with which a teacher may vary instruction and activities.
In the AP statistics classes, students will be asked to work in groups that vary in size to
foster discussion on a variety of statistics topics such as methodology and inferences. In
addition, students will be asked to work in groups to collect and analyze real life data in
many different situations throughout the year.[C4, see notes below for descriptions]

Teaching materials for the course come from textbooks, classroom lectures, other print
media, videos, and the Internet. At the beginning of the year, students will receive a list
of formulas and tables that are necessary. Students are also required to obtain a TI -83 or
TI-84 calculator for this class. For those who are unable to obtain one on their own, they
are able to use a classroom set that are occasionally available or are able to borrow one
on an as-need basis from the math department. Microsoft Excel will be another program
used to display and analyze data. There is also currently a request to purchase MINITAB
software for students to use in the Math Computer Lab. If able to be purchased, students
will also be required to use this for assignments and projects. It would also be used for in
class demonstrations.[C5]

Projects

Projects will be a major part of this course. Students will complete 4 projects each
semester that deal on integrating current and previous course content while expanding on
their existing knowledge. Projects will be completed inside and outside of the classroom
and will include the use of a graphing calculator for data collection as well as Microsoft
Excel for data analysis. If possible, the use of MINITAB will be included as well. These
projects require students to design surveys and experiments, gather data, analyze data
numerically and graphically, and apply inferential statistics to draw conclusions for a
population. Student will write formal reports on their projects using statistical
language.[C3,C4]

Remarks
The single thing that stands out about teaching statistics is how the unexpected always
happens. In talking with colleagues who have taught AP Statistics, I have found that the
best advice is to be flexible in the way I approach teaching. More precisely, to try new
technologies, allow students more interaction time with each other to work and discover
new ideas, and to accept that I will not have all the answers and will learn on the way as
well. I find the networking with colleagues and sharing ideas and resources have been an
integral part in my planning and development as a professional.
Primary Textbook and References
(noted with the following letters in the outline)

T      Moore, David S., and George P. McCabe. Introduction to the Practice of
       Statistics. 3rd ed. New York: W.H. Freeman, 1998.

W      Moore, David S. Statistics: Decisions Through Data. 1st ed. Massachusetts:
       COMAP, 1992.

TI     Texas Instruments TI-83/84 graphing calculator.

EX     Microsoft Excel.

O      Other resources used in the classroom come from articles in newspapers, journals,
       and the World Wide Web. Students will bring in data sets they collect or
       download from the Web.


Course Outline and Content
Fall Semester
                                                                                      Text and Resource
          Week                                  Content                                   Materials
       Week 1            Introduction to Statistics.                               O Reading from World Wide
                                                                                     Web.
                         Students read about experimental design, ethics in
                         medical testing and experiments, and the role of          O Video: What is Statistics?
                         statistics in medicine and society. Essay: “The Biggest
                         Public Health Experiment Ever: The 1954 Field Trial
                         of the Salk Poliomyelitis Vaccine.”[C3]
       Weeks 2-3         Exploring Data[C2a]                                       T pages 4-64
       HW
       Chapter 1.1       Graphical displays of distributions of univariate data:   O Practice AP test problems
       1, 3, 6, 9, 10,   box plots, stem plots, dot plots, histograms, frequency
       12, 14, 16, 18,   charts, cumulative frequency charts, time plots and bar
       22, 24, 25, 27,   charts. Stress center, spread, and shape.
       32, 34, 39
                         Summarizing distributions of univariate data. Mean,
       Chapter 1.2       median, mode, range, interquartile range, quartiles,
       42, 43, 44, 45,   standard deviation.
       48, 49, 53, 58,
       60, 61, 63, 65,   Comparing distributions of univariate data. Compare
       68                center, spread, clusters, gaps, outliers, and shapes
                         within groups and between dot plots, stem plots, and
                         box plots.

                         Standard deviation and variance. Properties of
                         standard deviation and the effects of changing
                         measurements and linear transformations on summary
                         measures.[C2a]
                  Approximately 4 days are spent with instruction with
                  TI calculators and Microsoft Excel.

                  Students use class generated data in the class for
                  classroom exercises.

                  Activity: Class data collecting activity of licks to the
                  center of a tootsie pop. Write ups due at the end of the
                  4th week.

                  Quiz
Weeks 4-5         The Normal Distribution and Chebyshev’s Theorem.           T pages 64-100
HW                Measuring position, quartiles, percentiles, standardized
Chapter 1.3       scores (z scores). Using the normal distribution as a      O Video: Describing Data
72, 74, 76, 77,   model for measurement.
79, 81, 83, 86,                                                              O Practice AP test problems
87, 89, 93, 94,   Normal quartile plots.
95, 97, 98, 99
                  Students spend two days in the computer lab
Chapter 1         standardizing data, graphing normal quartile plots, and
Review            interpreting information from the graphical and
107, 109, 110,    numerical displays of data.[C5]
111, 112, 114,
115, 116, 118,    Video: Describing Data
119, 121, 122
                  Test
Week 6            Scatter Plots and Correlation[C2a]                         T pages 104-135
HW
Chapter 2.1       Explanatory and response variables, analyzing patterns
1, 3, 4, 6, 8,    in scatter plots, correlation and linearity.
11, 16

Chapter 2.2
18, 20, 24, 25,
26, 31, 32
Week 7-9          Bivariate Data[C2a]                                        T pages 135-193
HW
Chapter 2.3       Least squares regression line, residual plots, outliers,   TI Used for activity and project
35, 37, 39, 41,   influential points, and transformation to achieve
44, 47            linearity.                                                 O Worksheet on curve fitting

Chapter 2.4       Approximately two days are spent in instruction with       W Worksheets and Videos:
51, 52, 55, 57,   TI graphing calculator.                                    Decisions through Data-
59, 62, 63, 65                                                               Correlation and Describing
                  Two days are spent in the classroom for a data             Relationships
Chapter 2.5       collection and curve fitting lab. Students will work
70, 74, 77        together to generate 3 sets of bivariate data. Students
                  use calculators/computers to write equations of curves
                  that best model their data.[C5]

                  Videos: Decisions through Data- Correlation and
                  Describing Relationships

                  Project: A data collection project is due at the end of
                  the 9th week.

                  Quiz.
Weeks 10-12       Relations in Categorical Data[C2a]                         T pages 193-225
HW
Chapter 2.6       Analyzing two way tables, Simpson’s Paradox,
81-85, 89, 92,    conditional relative frequencies, and association. The     W Worksheet and video:
94                concept of cause and effect, anecdotal evidence,           Decisions through Data-
                  observational studies, and experiments.                     Causation
Chapter 2.7
98, 102, 104      Activity: Exploring the effects of outliers and             O Practice AP test problems
                  influential points.
Chapter 2
Review            Video: Decisions through Data- Causation
109-121 odds
                  Test
Weeks 13-14       Experimental Design, Sampling, and                          T pages 230-285
HW                Randomness.[C2b]
Chapter 3.1                                                                   W Worksheets and videos:
1-7 all           Different methods of data collection, simple random         Decisions through Data-
                  sampling, sampling error, bias, stratifying,                Experimental Design and
Chapter 3.2       confounding, blocking, and replication.                     Sampling.
9-14, 17, 18,
22, 23, 24, 27,   Statistical Inference, parameters, sampling distributions   O Practice AP test problems
31                and variability.
                                                                              O Readings/studies from the
Chapter 3.3       Videos: Decisions through Data- Experimental Design         World Wide Web
33, 34, 36, 37,   and Sampling.
40, 41, 44, 45,
48, 49            A project on writing a questionnaire and conducting a
                  survey is due at the end of the 14th week.
Chapter 3.4
51-54, 56, 58,    Test.
63

Chapter 3
Review
66, 67, 69, 71,
72, 75, 76, 78,
79, 80
Weeks 14-15       Probability[C2c]                                            T pages 290-312
HW
Chapter 4.1       Basic Probability Rules, independence, sample spaces.       O Practice AP test problems
1-10, as
needed            Means and variances of random variables, law of large       O Video: Introduction to
                  numbers, statistical estimation.                            Probability
Chapter 4.2
11, 12, 16, 17,   Simulations as means to answer probability questions.
22, 23, 24, 26,
29, 33, 36        Activity: Two days are spent on class activities to
                  develop ideas of probabilities and estimates of
                  proportions.

                  Video: Introduction to Probability.

                  Quiz

Weeks 16-17       Random variables and sampling distributions.[C2c]           T pages 312-370
HW
Chapter 4.3       Simulation of probability distributions and sampling        O Practice AP test problems
38-48 evens       distributions.
                                                                              O Video: Probability
Chapter 4.4       Expected values and standard deviation of a random          Distributions
50, 51, 54, 56,   variable. Mean and standard deviation for sums and
57, 59, 62, 68,   differences of independent random variables.                O Practice probability problems
69, 73                                                                        using tree diagrams
                  One day is spent in class using the TI graphing
Chapter 4.5 (if   calculator to develop rules for the mean and variance of    TI Used for activity
time permits)     independent random variables and probability
76-96 evens       distributions.[C5]
      Chapter 4           Video: Probability Distributions.
      Review
      99-113 odd          Activity: A lottery is run every day for one week using
                          the Wisconsin lottery model with prizes awarded.

                          General probability rules, conditional probability, tree
                          diagrams, disjoint events, Bayes’s Rule, decision
                          analysis (if time permits).

                          Test.

      Week 18             Simulating Distributions.[C2c]                               T pages 374-397
      HW
      Chapter 5.1         Binomial probabilities, binomial distributions, normal       TI Used for activity
      1, 2, 4, 6, 9,      approximation to the binomial distribution.
      11, 12, 13, 15,
      17, 19, 22, 23      Law of large numbers.

                          One day is spent in class using the TI graphing
                          calculator to learn how to use the PDF and CDF
                          functions and to develop the conditions for the normal
                          approximation to the binomial distribution.[C5]


Spring Semester
                                                                                          Text and Resource
         Week                                    Content                                      Materials
      Weeks 1-3           Simulating Distributions.[C2c]                               T pages 397-431
      HW
      Chapter 5.2         Binomial probabilities, binomial distribution, normal        O Practice AP test problems
      24, 25, 26, 29,     approximation for counts and proportions, geometric
      32, 33, 35, 36,     distributions and probabilities associated with              O Worksheet on geometric
      38, 40, 43, 44      geometric distributions, sampling distribution of a          distributions
                          sample mean, central limit theorem.
      Chapter 5.3                                                                      W Worksheet and video:
      47-61 odds          Activity: The Central Limit Theorem                          Decisions through Data-
                                                                                       Binomial Distributions.
      Chapter 5           Project: Lab using, central limit theorem applet on the
      Review              web, TI calculator, and excel (MINITAB if available)         TI Used for project
      62-74, skip 72      on sampling distribution and the central limit theorem.
      and 73b             Write up due at the end of the third week.[C5]               EX Used for project

                          Video: Decisions through Data- Binomial
                          Distributions.

                          Test.
      Weeks 4-6           Confidence Intervals.[C2d]                                   T pages 434-496
      HW
      Chapter 6.1         Estimating population means, critical values, margin of      W Worksheets and videos:
      1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7,   error, and sample size.                                      Decisions through Data-
      9, 10, 11, 14,                                                                   Confidence Intervals and
      17, 20, 23, 24      Hypothesis Testing.                                          Significance Tests

      Chapter 6.2         Null and alternative hypotheses, p values, statistical       O Worksheet on Type I and
      26, 27, 31, 32,     significance, z test for population mean, confidence         Type II errors
      34, 35, 38, 39      intervals and two-sided tests.
                                                                                       O Practice AP test problems
      Chapter 6.3         Type I and Type II errors, power and power curves.
      53-59 all           Statistical significance, practical significance, and data
                          snooping.
Chapter 6.4       Two day are spent on class activities developing the
63, 65, 67, 70,   idea of confidence intervals. The candy Skittles is used
71                for the activity, “Introduction to Hypothesis Testing.”

Chapter 6         Videos: Decisions through Data- Confidence
Review            Intervals and Significance Tests
73-86, skip 81
                  Test.
Weeks 7-8         Inference for a single proportion.[C2d]                    T pages 586-619
HW
Chapter 8.1       Large-sample inference for a population proportion,        W Worksheet and video:
1, 2, 4, 8, 10,   confidence interval for a population proportion, sample    Decisions through Data-
13, 18, 19, 21,   size, and margin of error.                                 Inference for Proportions
23
                  Comparing two proportions.                                 O Practice AP test problems
Chapter 8.2
27, 28, 31, 34,   Confidence intervals for the difference between two
36, 38, 43, 45    proportions, significance tests for comparing two
                  proportions, pooled estimate of p.
Chapter 8
Review            Video: Decisions through Data-Inference for
48, 50, 51, 55,   Proportions
56, 59, 61, 64,
66a and b         Test.
Weeks 9-11        The distribution, standard error, one-sample t             T pages 504-582
HW                procedures, matched pairs t procedures.
Chapter 7.1                                                                  W Worksheet and Video:
1-4, 6, 7, 9,     Comparison of two means, two-sample z statistic, two-      Decisions through Data-
10, 11, 14, 17,   sample independent t procedure.                            Comparing Two Means.
18, 23, 25, 30,
35, 39, 40, 41,   Activity: Data collected to practice experimental          O Practice AP test problems
44                design and run tests of significance using one-sample t
                  procedures, matched pairs t procedures, and two            O Worksheet on the sign test
Chapter 7.2       independent t procedures for means. Write up
48, 51, 52, 55,   including methods, results, and interpretations due at
57-60, 63, 66,    the end of the week.[C3, C4]
67, 71, 72
                  Video: Decisions through Data- Comparing Two
Chapter 7         Means.
Review
93, 95, 97,       Project: Analysis of a research article from a peer
101, 102, 105,    reviewed research journal is due at the end of the 12th
107, 108, 109,    week.
111
                  Students need to have the topic of their end-of-
                  semester project selected by the end of week 12.

                  Test.
Weeks 12-13       Contingency and two-way tables.[C2d]                       T pages 624-658
HW
Chapter 9         Organizing relations in two-way tables, chi-square test    W Worksheet and video:
1, 2, 7, 9, 11,   for goodness of fit, homogeneity of proportions, and       Decisions through Data-
17, 19, 21, 31,   independence (one and two-way tables).                     Inference for Two-Way Tables.
34
                  Activity: M&M’s are used to test x2 goodness of fit.       O Practice AP test problems

                  Video: Decisions through Data-Inference for Two-           O Worksheet on goodness of fit
                  Way Tables.

                  Test.
Week 14           Inference for Regression.[C2d]                             T pages 662-681, 695-708
       HW
       Chapter 10       Simple linear regression model, estimating regression    O Practice AP test problems
       6, 7, 8, 19      parameters, confidence intervals and inference for the
                        slope, prediction, point estimators, and confidence
                        interval for a future observation.

                        Test.
       Week 15-16       Review and Prepare for the AP Exam.                      O Review packet for the AP
       HW                                                                        Exam
       AP test packet   Students must have their data collected for their
                        semester project by the end of week 16.
       Weeks 17-19      Students spend time in class and in the computer lab
                        working together on their end-of-the semester project.

                        Final Exam.

                        The last six week’s weeks’ grade is heavily weighted
                        toward the end-of-the semester project and AP review
                        problems.


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

C2b: The course provides instruction in each of the 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 four broad conceptual themes
      outlined in the Course Description with appropriate emphasis on anticipating
      patterns.

C2d: The course provides instruction in each of the 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: The course teach 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.

The following topics are not specifically mentioned in the course outline. However,
these are integrated into the course as needed:
     Census
   Cluster sampling
   Control and experimental group
   Placebo effect
   Generalizability of results
   Observational study
   Treatments
   Experimental units
   Blinding