Lesson Plan:

Common Core Standards:

• A1.S-ID.B.6: Represent data on two quantitative variables on a scatter plot and

describe how the quantities are related.

o Fit a function to the data; use functions fitted to the data to solve problems in

the context of the data. Focus on linear models.

o Informally assess the fit of a function by plotting and analyzing residuals

• A1.S-ID.C.8: Compute and interpret the correlation coefficient of a linear

relationship.

Objectives:

• Students will create an equation for the line of best fit for a given scatterplot.

• Students will critique the fit of a line of best fit by analyzing residuals.

• Students will calculate and analyze the correlation coefficient of a scatterplot.

Sub-Objectives:

• Students will describe how to compute residuals.

• Students will evaluate the fit of a line to a scatterplot using residuals.

• Students will describe how to compute the line of best fit using a calculator.

• Students will define correlation coefficient.

• Students will evaluate correlation and fit of a model using the correlation coefficient.
Lesson Outline:

BELL WORK:
Draw a line of fit for the given scatterplots and write the equation for the given line of fit.

ANALYZING LINE OF FIT: RESIDUALS -

• Definition: the difference of the y-value of a data point and the corresponding y-
value found using the line of best fit
o Shows how well a model fits a data set
§ Good fit: absolute values of residuals small and points are evenly
dispersed about x-axis
§ Not a good fit: residual points will be scattered
• Model example problem:
Model: 𝑦 = −2𝑥 + 20
x y y-Value from model Residual
1 19 18 19 – 18 = 1
2 15 16 15 – 16 = -1
3 13 14 13 – 14 = -1
4 11 12 11 – 12 = -1
5 10 10 10 – 10 = 0
6 8 8 8–8=0
7 7 6 7–6=1
8 5 4 5–4=1

• Examples with the class:

o Model: 𝑦 = 1.5𝑥 + 3.5
x 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
y 5 8 7 10 11 12 14

o Model: 𝑦 = 7𝑥 − 8
x 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
y 48 43 42 40 45 56 67 76

FINDING LINE OF BEST FIT:

Instead of using 2 data points, all data points are used
• Model example problem with calculator:
x 2.0 3.7 4.2 1.9 3.1 2.5 4.4 3.9
y 60 83 84 58 72 62 85 85

o Correlation coefficient definition and how to interpret

§ r = .979, strong positive correlation and equation closely models
the data
 • Examples with the class:
x 27 18 25 32 18 26 36
y 94 56 58 123 60 87 145

x 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
y 9 5 13 11 10 11 19 12

x 10 12 13 16 15 18
y 250 275 312 360 385 406

ASSESSMENT #1 - VOCABULARY ACTIVITY/LITERACY STRATEGY:

Semantic feature analysis – residuals vs. correlation coefficient

Write yes in the box if the trait applies, write no if it doesn’t, write a ? if

you’re unsure. (understand differences between the terms)

Residual Correlation Coefficient

Can be positive

Can be negative

Can be zero

Must be between -1 and 1

Tells whether the correlation

is positive or negative

Tells how closely the equation

models the data

Calculated by finding the

difference between the y-
value of the point and the y-
value from the model

ASSESSMENT #2 –HOMEWORK (calculating residuals & correlation coefficient,

finding line of best fit with calculator, analyzing line of best fit)