In this activity, students answer questions about three relative frequency tables. For the second table, students should have an understanding of what STEM careers are. STEM careers include careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine. Ask students, “What are some examples of careers in STEM?” Responses include: doctors, computer scientists, civil engineers, computer scientists, and architects.

Display the following examples of variables that have an association and ones that do not.

Variables with an association:

• Season and whether half or more of the people outside are wearing jackets or not
• Growth in plant length and whether someone waters the plants

Variable with no association:

• Mobile device preference and eye color
• Taking a visual art elective or not and mode of transportation to school 

Use Critique, Correct, Clarify to give students an opportunity to improve a sample written response explaining how each pair of variables does or does not have an association, by correcting errors, clarifying meaning, and adding details.

• Display this first draft:
  The season and whether half or more of the people outside are wearing jackets or not does have an association because I wear a jacket when it is cold.
  Mobile device preference and eye color does not have an association because they are different things.
  Ask, “What parts of this response are unclear, incorrect, or incomplete?” As students respond, annotate the display with 2–3 ideas to indicate the parts of the writing that could use improvement.
• Give students 2–4 minutes to work with a partner to revise the first draft.
• Select 1–2 students or groups to slowly read aloud their draft. Record for all to see as each draft is shared. Then invite the whole class to contribute additional language and edits to make the final draft even more clear and more convincing.

Allow a whole-class discussion about how each pair of variables might be associated, and why it makes sense for some variables to have no association.