Unit 8, Lesson 18
Comparing Populations Using Samples
Grade 7
Preparation
Lesson Narrative
In this lesson, students compare two groups based on samples from each group. This builds on their work in earlier activities in which they compared populations based on their measures of center and variability.
Students see that if samples of two different populations have only a small difference between their measures of center relative to their variability, then we cannot say that there is a meaningful difference between the measures of center of the populations (MP3). Due to sampling variability, it is possible that the two populations may not be very different. However, if samples from two different populations have a large difference between their measures of center relative to their variability, then we can say that there is likely to be a meaningful difference between the measures of center of the two populations.
- Calculate the difference between the mean or median of two samples from different populations, and express it as a multiple of the MAD or IQR.
- Interpret a pair of box plots, including the amount of visual overlap between the two distributions.
- Justify (orally and in writing) whether there is likely to be a meaningful difference between two populations based on a sample from each population.
Let’s compare different populations using samples.
Required Preparation
None