Large Sample Confidence Intervals for Means

Synopsis: An activity which involves calculating the confidence intervals for the mean.  Students should break up into groups of 4 students.

Type of activity: In-class, small-group

Statistical topics: confidence intervals for means

Time needed: 10 minutes

Materials needed:

Procedure:
  1. Ask students to break up into groups of size 3 or 4.
  2. Give one activity form to each group.
  3. Ask students to measure the length (in millimeters) of their middle finger on their dominant hand and record the data.
  4. Next have the students calculate the group's mean, standard deviation, and 95% confidence interval for the average length of the class's middle fingers.
  5. The students should then complete the questions on the activity form.
Comments from others who have tried activity:  None.

Supplementary materials:  Activity Form: HTML Version
 

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This activity was submitted by Laura J. Simon: lsimon@stat.psu.edu