Monthly Schedule

(STAtistics, Period D)

M 1/5/09	Optional due date for group project. Groups that submit their final writeup before 4:00 p.m. today will receive a bonus of 5 points per group member. If you have time, please play around with the sampling distribution simulations that I was trying to demonstrate when time ran out in 2008.
T 1/6/09	Second quarter group project (100 points) due at 4:00 p.m.
W 1/7/09	Work period. Attendance will be taken, though I will not be in class because of illness. You should review for your midterm exam, using one or more of the following techniques: working problems in the Barron’s book, working an assortment of problems in your textbook, or going back through old tests and quizzes in your binder.
Th 1/8/09	Quest (50 points) in preparation for midterm exam. Possible material to be covered is anything from the entire fall semester that would appear in the Barron’s review book. (That means that terms such as “house effect” and “normal quantile plot,” though important, will not be tested since they do not appear in the Barron’s book questions.) This is the quest that was originally scheduled for Wednesday.
F 1/9/09	End of second quarter. HW due: Re-do yesterday’s quest to make something that you are happy with. Try to do this in 30 minutes, since that would be the approximate AP pacing.
Th 1/15/09	Midterm Exam (20% of first semester grade), Lower School Music Room, 11:00 a.m. What to bring: Several sharpened pencils, erasers, calculator, spare batteries. That is all! What to leave at home or in the hallway: Cell phone, scratch paper, graph paper, straightedge, compass, notes, PDA, etc. None of these items will be needed on the exam, not even a straightedge. If you are found with any of these items, the items may be confiscated, and depending on circumstances, you may be subject to Honor Council action. A standard formula sheet will be provided for you. You may not bring your own. If you desire a practice version of the formula sheet, for studying purposes, use your Web browser to print pages 19-25 of the AP Course Description file. Note that the numbers marked on the pages are 13 through 19, but you need to request them as 19 through 25 when printing from your browser. Format will be 50% multiple-choice, using problems similar to those in the Barron’s book, and 50% free-response. Your pace is 2 minutes and 15 seconds for each multiple-choice problem, on average, and either 13 or 25 minutes for each free-response problem: 13 minutes for the shorter ones, 25 minutes for the longer ones. The Barron’s book is stuffed full of examples of each type.
W 1/21/09	Classes resume.
Th 1/22/09	HW due: View the simulations that I asked you to look at for 1/5/2009. There is no “please” this time. Learn at least one interesting fact that was not discussed in class yesterday. In class: Quiz on your simulations (what did you learn?) and/or the meaning of sampling distribution, in your own words. I am not exaggerating in the least to say that an abstract understanding of sampling distributions is necessary in order to do the entire second semester of the course. By the way, you are expected to know (without prompting) the four thematic areas of the course: exploratory data analysis, experimental design, probability, and inferential statistics. The last area, which is our focus during the second semester, can be summarized in one sentence: “We use statistics in order to estimate parameters.” If you have an extra 15 minutes tonight (and you very well might, since the semester has barely begun), please look at the Must-Pass Quiz to get a glimpse of what you will need to know by the end of the year.
F 1/23/09	HW due: Read pp. 506-512; write #10.1, 10.2.
M 1/26/09	HW due: Read pp. 513-518 and prepare for the quiz described below; write #10.7. Quiz (10 pts.) will be identical to Example 10.4 on p. 517, except with the numbers changed. You will be provided with a copy of Table C to use during the quiz.
T 1/27/09	HW due: Read pp. 520-525, 527-528; write #10.19, 10.20abcd, 10.22, 10.23. Warning: The answer in the back of the book for #10.19 is wrong.
W 1/28/09	No school (ice). Please call 703-599-6624 if you have any questions about the homework that is due tomorrow. Next Tuesday’s test will still occur on the scheduled date.
Th 1/29/09	HW due: Read pp. 531-536, 537-539. Also read the PHA(S)TPC procedures and memorize what the letters stand for. You need to learn the real letters; the silly ones are optional. In other words, you should memorize the following keywords: parameters, hypotheses, assumptions, sketch of sampling distribution assuming H0 is true, test statistic, P-value, conclusion in context. When you write up a statistical test, the sketch is optional. A quiz (10 points) on the keywords is possible. If class is not held today because of weather, we will continue moving forward. Watch this space for tomorrow’s assignment.
F 1/30/09	HW due: Read pp. 540-542; write #10.25, 10.27, 10.28, and the following two-part “alertness check” question. Question: On p. 533, two-thirds of the way down the page, there is a parenthetical comment regarding lack of realism. (a) Why is it not realistic to suppose that we know the population standard deviation? (b) How is it that we will eliminate this assumption in the next chapter? (A one- or two-word answer will suffice.)

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Last updated: 21 Feb 2009