Unit Lesson Recap for IMP 1s The Pit and the Pendulum

Course: Fundamentals of Probability, Statistics & Computer Science

Teachers: Amy Gilchrist & Ron Cochran
Timeframe: Terms 1 & 3, 2014-2015 school year
Overview:
This unit opens with an excerpt from The Pit and the Pendulum, by Edgar
Allan Poe. In the story, a prisoner is tied down while a pendulum with a
sharp blade slowly descends. If the prisoner does not act, he will be killed by
the pendulum. When the pendulum has about 12 swings left, the prisoner
creates a plan for escape and executes it. Students are presented with the
problem of whether the prisoner would have enough time to escape. To
resolve this question, students construct pendulums and conduct
experiments to find out what variables determine the length of the period of
a pendulum and what the relationship is between the period and these
variables.
In the process, students are introduced to the normal distribution and the
standard deviation as tools for determining whether a change in one variable
really does affect another. They make and refine conjectures, analyze data
collected from experiments, and use graphing calculators to explore curve
fitting. Finally, after deriving a theoretical answer to the problem, students
actually use a 40-foot pendulum to test their theory.
Standards Addressed/Common Core Mathematical Practices
Addressed:

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of
others.
4. Model with mathematics.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Attend to precision.
7. Look for and make use of structure.
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

Statistics and Probability (Model Algebra 1 Standards)

Interpreting Categorical and Quantitative Data S-ID
Summarize, represent, and interpret data on a single count or measurement variable.
1. Represent data with plots on the real number line (dot plots, histograms, and box plots).
2. Use statistics appropriate to the shape of the data distribution to compare center (median,
mean) and spread (interquartile range, standard deviation) of two or more different data sets.

4. Use the mean and standard deviation of a data set to fit it to a normal distribution and to
estimate population percentages. Recognize that there are data sets for which such a procedure
is not appropriate. Use calculators, spreadsheets, and tables to estimate areas under the normal
curve. 52
Summarize, represent, and interpret data on two categorical and quantitative variables. 53
6. Represent data on two quantitative variables on a scatter plot, and describe how the variables
are related.
a. Fit a function to the data; use functions fitted to data to solve problems in the context of the
data. Use given functions or choose a function suggested by the context. Emphasize linear,
quadratic, and exponential models.
b. Informally assess the fit of a function by plotting and analyzing residuals.
c. Fit a linear function for a scatter plot that suggests a linear association.

Student Work:
Gathering Data that Fits a Normal Curve Flipping Coins, Frequency Bar
Graphs, Teamwork

Some students used IPADS to create their graphs:

Experiments: What variable affect the period of a pendulum? Groups

were assigned to test either the amplitude, the weight or the length
of the pendulum?

Standard Deviation to the Rescue-Students used standard deviation

& the Normal Range to determine that the length of the pendulum is
the only variable that has a significant impact on the pendulums
period.

Back to Data Collection (varying only the length of the pendulum

this time)- Student ventured out into the lobby & stairwells collect
data for pendulums up to 9 feet in length.

Final Predictions- Students compiled the periods of all of the

pendulum experiments and using graphing calculators created

scatter plots of the length of the pendulum (x) vs. the period of the
pendulum (y). They learned how to curve fit to create an
equation to that could be used to model & predict the period for a
40 foot pendulum using a square root function.

After each student made a prediction, we asked the Upton Fire Department to bring their
ladder truck over & hang our pendulum so we could time 10 periods of the 40 foot
pendulum several times to see whose prediction was closest.