CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-ID.B.6
The standard
Represent data on two quantitative variables on a scatter plot, and describe how the variables are related.
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
What this standard means
Students need to plot paired numerical data on a coordinate plane, choose reasonable scales, and label axes clearly. They should describe the pattern they see, including direction, strength, shape, clusters, and outliers.
Mastery looks like a student making an accurate scatter plot and saying something like, “As study time increases, test score tends to increase, with one outlier.” Students often mix up the axes, use uneven scales, or call any upward pattern “strong” without checking how close the points are to a line or curve.
Ways to teach it
- Have students measure arm span and height, record class data, make a scatter plot, and label any outliers with sticky notes.
- Ask students to write: What does the graph suggest, what does it not prove, and what point seems unusual?
- Show four small scatter plots and have students label each as positive, negative, no association, or nonlinear.
- Use a car website dataset of mileage and price, then ask students to describe how price changes as mileage increases.
Plan a lesson for CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-ID.B.6
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Related standards
- CCSS.Math.Content.8.SP.A.1
Construct and interpret scatter plots for bivariate measurement data to investigate patterns of association between two quantities. Describe patterns such as cl...
- CCSS.Math.Content.6.EE.C
Represent and analyze quantitative relationships between dependent and independent variables.
- CCSS.Math.Content.8.SP.A.2
Know that straight lines are widely used to model relationships between two quantitative variables. For scatter plots that suggest a linear association, informa...
- CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-ID.B
Summarize, represent, and interpret data on two categorical and quantitative variables