Describing data graphically

Activities: In-class, large group

• A Human Histogram.  Involves using the students in your class to create a "live" histogram of the heights of the students.  Submitted by Laura J. Simon.

Activities: In-class, small group

• Histogram of student GPAs. An activity in which small groups of 3-4 students analyze a histogram and two-way table of counts.  The activity illustrates how the choice of a graph depends upon the type of data. Submitted by Laura J. Simon.

Cartoons

• A Shoe cartoon (by Jeff MacNelly) that illustrates an alternate interpretation of a pie chart.

Class lecture notes

• Graphs.  An overview of summarizing data using graphs. Submitted by Laura J. Simon.

Videos

• Against All Odds: Inside Statistics Video 2: Picturing Distributions.  Are patterns perfect predictors?  Construct stemplots, frequency tables, and histograms, and understand the importance of pattern deviations, including gaps and outliers, in examples drawn from meteorology, traffic control and television programming.  (28:46 mins.)  Video available in Main Office and from Penn State AVS.
• For All Practical Purposes: Statistics Video 3:  Picture This.  Focuses on exploratory data analysis, emphasizing that the human eye and brain are the best known devices to see and recognize patterns.  Beginning with one variable, histograms, medians,  quartiles, and the concept of an outlier are introduced.   (25:00 mins.)  Video available from Penn State AVS.