AP Statistics Syllabus Course Description The AP Statistics course is designed to enhance the student s understanding of the four concepts of math statistics: Exploring Data, Sampling and Experimentation, Anticipating Patterns, and Statistical Inference. Unlike traditional math courses, the Statistics course is designed to enhance a student s communication of real-life phenomena rather than communicating results of root calculations. The students will spend time in and out of class learning to write conclusions and inferences using appropriate statistics, vocabulary, and interpretations. These opportunities will be provided in classroom discussion, homework assignments, small group learning, and course projects throughout the year. Course Text and Other Supplemental Resources Main Text: Bock, David E., Paul F. Velleman, and Richard D. DeVeaux. Stats: Modeling the World. Boston: Pearson/Addison-Wesley, 010. Supplemental Text: Peck, Roxy, Chris Olsen, and Jay Devore. Introduction to Statistics & Data Analysis. Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 005 and 008. All sections referred in the Course Outline come from the 005 text. Technology: All students will have access to a TI-8 graphing calculator in class, at home, and on the AP Exam. The graphing calculators will be called to use throughout the course, with specific interest paid to certain functions as highlighted in the Course Outline. Students will also work throughout the semester with Microsoft Excel software as well as with MINITAB and other software readouts. Finally, the web will be accessed in class and at home for various applets, data collection, and other uses. Course Outline Unit 1: Introduction to Statistics and Data Collection Activity (1 day): Design Survey Questions 1 Methods of Data Collection II. A. 1 4 Planning and Conducting Surveys II. B. 1 4 II. D Planning and Conducting Experiments II. C. 1 5 II. D 1 Unit 1 Review 1 Unit 1 Test Unit : Displaying Univariate Data Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Use of graphing calculators to: create histogram. Use of computers ( days) to: create frequency table and histogram. 1 Levels of Measurement 1 Bar Charts and Circle Charts I. E. 1, 4 Chapter
1 1 Unit Review 1 Unit Test Frequency Distributions and Histograms Describing and Comparing Distributions Stem and Leaf Displays Dotplots I. A. 1 4 I. E. 1 I. A. 1 4 I. C. 1 4 Unit : Measuring Center and Spread Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Use of graphing calculators to: calculate mean and standard deviation, 5-number summary, create boxplots Use of computers (1 day) to: calculate mean and standard deviation. Use of web to: collect sample data Measuring Center and Spread I. B. 1, Chapter 4 Mean, Median, Mode, Range, Standard Deviation Measuring Position I. B., Chapter 6 Empirical Rule, z-scores Percentiles, Quartiles, Interquartile Range 1 Unit Quiz Constructing, Interpreting, and Comparing Boxplots 5-number summary 1 Unit Review 1 Unit Test Unit 4: Exploring Bivariate Data I. B. 4 I. C. 1 4 Chapter 5 Use of graphing calculators to: create scatterplots, model data with line/curve, transform data to achieve linearity Use of computers (1 day) to: create scatterplots, model data with line/curve, manipulate readouts to compare models (from Excel and MINITAB) Use of web to: collect sample data Activity (1 day): Does it Relate? Scatterplots I. D. 1, Chapter 7 Correlation and the Correlation Coefficient Linear Regression and the I. D. Chapter 8 Least-Squares Line Outliers and Influential Observations Residual Plots I. D. 4 Chapter 9 Coefficient of Determination Nonlinear Models and Transformations I. D. 5 Chapter 10 1 Unit 4 Review 1 Unit 4 Test
Unit 5: Probability Use of graphing calculators to: simulate Use of web in Activities Activity ( days): Monte s Dilemma, Cereal Box Introduction to Probability III. A. 1, Chapter 14 Outcomes, Events, Sample Space, Law of Large s Tree and Venn Diagrams Properties of Probabilities III. A. Chapter 14 1 Conditional Probability III. A. Chapter 15 I. E., 1 Unit 5 Quiz Independence III. A. Chapter 15 Determining Probabilities III. A. 1 - Chapter 15 1 Simulation of Probabilities III. A. 5 1 Unit 5 Review 1 Unit 5 Test Unit 6: Random Variables Use of graphing calculators (1 day) to: approximate mean and variance of a distribution, use PDF and CDF functions 1 Random Variables III. A. 4 Chapter 16 Probability Distributions III. A. 4 Chapter 17 Mean and Standard Deviation of Random Variables III. A. 6 III. B. 1, Chapter 16 Combining Random Variables 1 Unit 6 Quiz 1 Binomial Distribution III. A. 4 Chapter 17 1 Geometric Distribution III. A. 4 Chapter 17 Normal Distribution III. C. 1 Transformations for Normality and III. A. 4 Normal Approximations III. C. 1 Unit 6 Review 1 Unit 6 Test Unit 7: Sampling Distributions 1 Introduction to Sampling Distributions III. D Chapter 18 Sampling Distribution of a Sample Mean III. D., The Central Limit Theorem Sampling Distribution of a Sample III. D. 1 Proportion 1 Simulation of Sampling Distributions III. D. 6 1 Unit 7 Review 1 Unit 7 Test
First Semester Review 1 First Semester Final Unit 8: Estimation and Confidence Intervals Use of graphing calculators to: calculate confidence interval 1 Point Estimation IV. A. 1, Confidence Intervals for a Proportion IV. A. 4 Chapter 19 1 Unit 8 Quiz Confidence Intervals for a Mean III. D. 7 Chapter t-distribution IV. A., 6 1 Unit 8 Review 1 Unit 8 Test Unit 9: Inference for a Single Mean or Proportion Use of graphing calculators to: calculate p-value for hypothesis test Use of computers to: manipulate readouts for hypothesis tests Intro to Hypothesis Testing IV. B. 1 Chapter 0 Type I and Type II Errors Tests Involving Proportions IV. B. 1 Unit 9 Quiz Tests Involving the Mean IV. B. 4 Chapter 1 Power of a Test IV. B. 1 1 Unit 9 Review 1 Unit 9 Test Unit 10: Inference for Two Means or Proportions Use of graphing calculators (1 day) to: calculate p-value and degrees of freedom for testing Use of computers to: manipulate readouts for hypothesis tests Use of web in Activity Activity (1 day): Helium-Filled Footballs Inference for a Difference Between III. D. 5 Two Means (paired and unpaired) IV. A. 7 Sampling Distributions and Confidence IV. B. 5 Intervals for Difference Between Two Means Tests for Difference Between Two Means (paired and unpaired) 1 Unit 10 Quiz Inference for a Difference Between Two Proportions Sampling Distributions and Confidence Intervals for Difference Between Two Proportions Tests for Difference Between Two Proportions 1 Unit 10 Review 1 Unit 10 Test III. D. 4 IV. A. 5 IV. B. Chapter 4 Chapter
Unit 11: Inference for Tables Use of graphing calculators (1 day) to: calculate p-value and degrees of freedom for testing Use of computers to: manipulate readouts for hypothesis tests Chi-Square Distribution III. D. 8 Chapter 6 Goodness-of-Fit Test Tests for Homogeneity of Proportions IV. B. 6 Tests of Independence 1 Unit 11 Review 1 Unit 11 Test Unit 1: Inference for Regression Use of graphing calculators (1 day) to: calculate p-value and degrees of freedom for testing Use of computers ( days) to: calculate confidence and prediction intervals, manipulate readouts for hypothesis tests 1 Linear Regression Model I. D. Chapter 7 1 Confidence Interval for the Slope of IV. A. 8 Least Squares Line Tests for the Slope of the Least Squares IV. B. 7 Line 1 Unit 1 Review 1 Unit 1 Test Review for AP Exam Students complete at least one practice AP exam Time allotted in class will vary AP Exam Unit 1: Multiple Regression Analysis and ANOVA Use of computers to: calculate ANOVA Multiple Regression Models Section 14.1 Fitting a Model and Assessing its Utility Section 14. Inferences Based on an Estimated Model Section 14. Other Issues in Multiple Regression Section 14.4 Single-Factor ANOVA Section 15.1 Multiple Comparisons Section 15. Time allotted in class will vary
Course Projects As noted in the Course Description and throughout the Course Outline, students will be expected to perform appropriate statistics and communicate appropriate results through projects. Through such projects, students will gain an understanding of the connections between the design, collection, and inferences made through statistics. Students must communicate this understanding through formal writing assignments. One such example of a project is as follows: Final Project: Summarizing the High School Population In small groups, students will design a survey sampling the high school population with a targeted audience of school administrators. The students must first design appropriate questions and will be graded by one another as to the unbiased nature and appropriateness of the questions. Survey questions should include a combination of qualitative and quantitative responses. Students then must design an appropriate sampling method to collect data. This method will later be described and justified to the targeted audience in the final report. Data will be collected as indicated by each individual group. It is then the task of each group to appropriately display their data and perform statistics and inferences relevant to the targeted audience. Consideration should be given during the design of the questions as to what inferences the group intends to make. Each group is expected to compute multiple statistics on the collected data, but is not required to use all the questions in their final report. The project will culminate with a final written report, typed in double-spaced 1-point font, describing the conclusions and inferences found in their survey. The group will be graded on each of the following: 1. Ability to clearly describe their sampling process (including any possible bias in the sample). Appropriateness, relevance, and visual appearance of multiple graphical displays.. Clear communication of the statistics taken on each different response, and 4. Inferences and conclusions to enhance the understanding for the targeted audience. Notes should be made of any concerns in the data and their results.