Finding Correlation

Authentic Assessment
Math 1 Honors

You have been hired as a consultant by the Ninth Grade Coolio Company. They have hired you to
create a study to find out more about the 9th graders in this classroom. They want to start a new
product or line of sales that these students might be interested in purchasing. They have no idea
where to start and they are counting on you to find what is or isn’t trending (using the correlation
between two quantitative sets of data). They expect to see your results of the research in a
presentation format (poster).

Ideas of questions you could choose from, or you can come up with your own:
-How often do you purchase gaming aps on your cell phone?
-How often do you download free gaming aps on your cell phone?
-How many songs do you purchase in a week?
-How many hours do you spend on Xbox in a week?
-How many hours do you watch TV in a week?
-How many hours do you play on Play Station in a week?
-How much allowance do you earn in a week?
-How many chores do you have to do in a week?
-How many pets do you have?
-How many times do you purchase candy, soda, or treats in a week?
-How many times do you work out in a week?
-How often do you have homework every week?
-How many hours do you spend doing homework in a week?
-How many hours do you spend reading a book every week?
-How many times do you go to a store to shop every week?

Steps:
1- (5 minutes) Choose two questions for the rest of the class to answer. You can choose any
question from the above questions or you can come up with your own questions. But you
must get the okay from Mrs. Bartholomew on your questions.
2- (3 minutes) Decide who will be the
a. Graphic Designer – will make the scatter plot and draw the new product or line of sales
advertisement (with the help of your colleagues).
b. Statistician/Marketing Representative – will write the paragraphs that analyze the data
and that present the new product or line of sales (with the help of your colleagues).
c. Advertising Presenter – Will do most (not all) of the talking when presenting the product
or line of sales to the board (your class).
3- (10 minutes) Leave your questions on the desk for students to answer and then answer
everyone else’s questions. You must answer all of them!
4- (5 minutes) Create your scatter plot from the data you collect.
5- (2 minutes) Using your calculator, find the line of best fit and the correlation coefficient. Be sure
to clearly write it on your poster.
6- (10 minutes) Analyze your data. Write a paragraph explaining the relationship between your
two questions. Be sure to use mathematical language such as correlation, trending, analyzing,
data…
7- (10 minutes) Make a proposal to the Ninth Grade Coolio Company based on the analysis of
your data. (This would entail proposing a product or line of sales that they should consider
selling) This should be another paragraph using mathematical language.
8- If time allows present your finding to the board of trustees (your class).
9- The board will vote on the product they would like to sell.
 Rubric
Task Point(s) Earned/Total Points
Two well thought out quantitative _______/2
questions.
- Try to find questions that you
think will have a strong
correlation.
Create a scatter plot with the data you _______/3
collect from your classmates
- Correctly plot points
- Accurate intervals on x and y axis
- Properly label titles for x and y
axes and the main title
Use technology to find the line of best fit _______/2
and draw it in your scatterplot.
Use technology to find the correlation _______/3
coefficient and determine if it is positive
or negative and if it is strong, moderate,
or weak.
Analyze your data by writing a concise _______/5
paragraph
- Be sure to mention the correlation
coefficient and what that means
for the relationship of your two
questions.
Make a Proposal _______/5
- With the data you have analyzed,
make a proposal of a product or
line of sales for the Ninth Grade
Coolio Company.
Total Points _______/20