Students roll vehicles down and inclined plane placed at various heights and measure distance traveled. Recorded and graphed data reveals an unexpected data trend (due to friction force).

The purpose of this task is to allow students to demonstrate an ability to construct boxplots and to use boxplots as the basis for comparing distributions. The solution should directly compare the center, spread, and shape of the two distributions and comment on the high outlier in the northbound data set.

In this task students design a plan to conduct a random sample of the students in their school to estimate the proportion of students who think their parents are strict.

The purpose of this task is to assess ability to interpret the slope and intercept of the least squares regression line in context.

This task lets students explore the concepts of probability as a fraction of outcomes, and using two-way tables of data. The special emphasis is on developing their understanding of conditional probability and independence. This task could be used as a group activity where students cooperate to formulate a plan of how to answer each question and calculate the appropriate probabilities. The task could lead to extended class discussions about the different ways of using probability to justify general claims.

This is a very open ended task. It poses the question, but the students have to formulate a plan to answer it, and use the two-way table of data to find all the necessary probabilities. The special emphasis is on developing their understanding of conditional probability and independence. This task could be used as a group activity where students cooperate to formulate a plan of how to answer the question and calculate the appropriate probabilities. The task could lead to extended class discussions about the different ways of using probability to justify general claims.

Video clips from federal and regional agencies show scientists at work with tools used to collect data about the climate and weather. This article, from the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, will help students visualize the tools and how they are used in the atmosphere, at sea, and other hard-to-access locations.

The 11 books selected for inclusion in the issue of Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle devoted to climate studies range from easy readers to biographies. Each book is briefly described; all were reviewed for accuracy and appropriate reading levels for students in grades K-5. Several books deal with careers in meteorology.

This exercise demonstrates that judgment (non-random) samples tend to be biased in the sense that they produce samples that are not balanced with respect to the population characteristics of interest.

The purpose of this task is to assess (1) ability to distinguish between an observational study and an experiment and (2) understanding of the role of raandom assingment to experimental groups in an experiment.