AP Statistics Syllabus
AP Statistics Syllabus
AP Statistics Syllabus
AP Statistics
®
Curricular Requirements
CR1 The students and teacher have access to a college-level statistics textbook, in See page:
print or electronic format. 2
CR2 The course provides opportunities for students to interpret standard computer See page:
output and use graphing calculators with statistical capabilities to describe 4
data, determine probabilities, and perform tests.
CR3 The course is structured to incorporate the big ideas and required content See pages:
outlined in each of the units described in the AP Course and Exam 3, 4
Description (CED).
CR4 The course provides opportunities for students to develop the course skills See page:
related to Skill Category 1: Selecting Statistical Methods. 5
CR5 The course provides opportunities for students to develop the course skills See pages:
related to Skill Category 2: Data Analysis. 3, 4, 5
CR6 The course provides opportunities for students to develop the course skills See pages:
related to Skill Category 3: Using Probability and Simulation. 6, 8
CR7 The course provides opportunities for students to develop the course skills See pages:
related to Inference and Skill Category 4: Statistical Argumentation. 8, 10
Advanced Placement
Statistics Sample Syllabus #1
Textbook:
Statistics: Learning from Data, AP Edition Cengage Learning, 2014 by Roxy Peck and
Chris Olsen CR1 CR1
The syllabus must list
the title, author, and
Student Practice: publication date of a
Throughout each unit, Topic Questions will be provided to help students check their college-level introductory
understanding. The Topic Questions are especially useful for confirming understanding of statistics textbook.
difficult or foundational topics before moving on to new content or skills that build upon
prior topics. Topic Questions can be assigned before, during, or after a lesson, and as in-
class work or homework. Students will get rationales for each Topic Question that will
help them understand why an answer is correct or incorrect, and their results will reveal
misunderstandings to help them target the content and skills needed for additional practice.
At the end of each unit, Personal Progress Checks will be provided in class or as
homework assignments in AP Classroom. Students will get a personal report with feedback
on every topic, skill, and question that they can use to chart their progress, and their results
will come with rationales that explain every question’s answer. One to two class periods are
set aside to re-teach skills based on the results of the Personal Progress Checks.
Additional Resources:
SPLAT—freeware by Chris Olsen that all students have access to.
All students have access to a TI-84 graphing calculator. Students use the calculator
regularly throughout the year to construct plots, to calculate probabilities, to find the
least squares regression line, to construct confidence intervals, and to perform tests of
significance. The textbook presents computer output from Minitab that students are
required to understand and interpret in order to answer the homework questions.
Desmos software—freeware.
StatCrunch software—used for demonstration.
Fathom for teacher demonstrations.
Released AP questions are used extensively throughout the course.
Short clips from the Against All Odds video series are used to bring in real-world
applications.
TED talks are shown or assigned for viewing for homework; for example, Hans
Rosling’s “Best Statistics You Have Ever Seen” or Peter Donnelly’s “How Juries Get
Fooled by Statistics.”
Video clips from CBS News, 60 Minutes, ABC News, etc., that relate current events
to statistics, such as the latest in stem cell research, the most recent studies on
antidepressants, where we are in the fight to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease, the
power of placebos, etc.
Websites such as gapminder.org or causeweb.org.
Applets such as the Rossman/Chance applets, WISE applets, Duke University applets.
Many of these applets lead students through a process to help them understand a
concept. For example, the Dolphin applet by Alan Rossman and Beth Chance, along
with their lab, help to introduce statistical inference.
The course follows the nine units outlined in the Course and Exam Description (CED).
Throughout each unit, the three big ideas are emphasized: Variation and Distribution CR3
(VAR); Patterns and Uncertainty (UNC); Data-Based Predictions, Decisions, and The syllabus must include
Conclusions (DAT). an outline of course
content by unit title or topic
using any organizational
Unit 1: Exploring One-Variable Data approach with the
(Big Ideas: VAR, UNC) CR3 associated big idea(s) to
demonstrate the inclusion
Chapter 2: Graphical Methods for Describing Data Distributions of required course content.
Chapter 3: Numerical Methods for Describing Data Distributions All three big ideas must
be included: Variation
Chapter 6: Random Variables and Probability Distributions and Distribution (VAR),
Patterns and Uncertainty
CED TOPICS CED SKILLS SECTION FROM TEXTBOOK (UNC), and Data-Based
Predictions, Decisions, and
1.1: Introducing Statistics: What 1.A 2.1
Can We Learn from Data? Conclusions (DAT).
Activity: Students collect data from their class, such as how many states and provinces
they have visited. They are asked to calculate the five-number summary and construct a
boxplot. They are then asked to construct a histogram and a stem-and-leaf plot. Students
discuss with a partner the benefits of each type of graphical display. This activity
addresses skills 2.A, 2.B, 2.C, and 2.D and BIs VAR and UNC. CR5
2.4: Representing the Relationship 2.A, 2.B 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4
Between Two Quantitative Variables
Activity: Students work in class on the NCSSM 2007 Rolling Down the River activity that
requires them to conduct a convenience sample, an SRS, and two stratified samples using
different strata. Students then need to determine the most appropriate sampling technique
to use and describe why it is superior to the other methods, addressing skill 1.C and BIs
VAR and DAT. CR4 CR4
The syllabus must include
CED TOPICS CED SKILLS SECTION FROM TEXTBOOK a brief description of one or
more classroom activities,
3.1: Introducing Statistics: Do the Data 1.A 1.1 projects, or problem
We Collected Tell the Truth?
sets in which students
3.2: Introduction to Planning a Study 1.C, 4.A 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 describe an appropriate
method for gathering
3.3: Random Sampling and Data Collection 1.C 1.2 and representing data
(Skill 1.C). The activities,
3.4: Potential Problems with Sampling 1.C 1.2
projects, or problem sets
3.5: Introduction to Experimental Design 1.B, 1.C 1.3 must be labeled so that the
corresponding skill and big
3.6: Selecting an Experimental Design 1.C 1.3
idea(s) are evident.
3.7: Inference and Experiments 4.B 1.4, 1.5
Chapter 5: Probability
4.7: Introduction to Random Variables 2.B, 4.B 2.3, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3
and Probability Distributions
5.2: The Normal Distribution, Revisited 3.A, 3.C 6.3, 6.7, 6.8
5.3: The Central Limit Theorem 3.C 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 12.1, 14.4
Chapter 11: Asking and Answering Questions About a Difference Between Two Population
Proportions
6.4: Setting Up a Test for a 1.E, 1.F, 4.C 9.4, 9.5, 10.1
Population Proportion
6.10: Setting Up a Test for the Difference 1.E, 1.F, 4.C 11.3
of Two Population Proportions
6.11: Carrying Out a Test for the Difference 3.E, 4.B, 4.E 11.3
of Two Population Proportions
Activity: The class conducts the Coke/Pepsi taste test activity from AP Central to
introduce significance tests. Students use dice to simulate the distribution of the number
of correct identifications based on random guessing. This simulation is then used to
estimate the probability of obtaining the class result if the guesses were purely random.
This activity addresses Skill 3.A and BI UNC. CR6
Activity: The class is asked which candy has a higher proportion of yellow candy:
Skittles or M&Ms. The class agrees on an appropriate inference method and identifies the
alternative hypothesis (Skills 1.E and 1.F). They check that they have met the conditions
for inference for the identified significance test (Skill 4.C). The class counts the candies to
find the proportion of yellow candies in each sample. They calculate the test statistic and
p-value (Skill 3.E) and then draw an appropriate conclusion (Skills 4.A, 4.B, and 4.E). This CR7
activity touches upon all three big ideas. CR7 The syllabus must include
a brief description of one or
7.4: Setting Up a Test for a 1.E, 1.F, 4.C 12.1, 12.3, 12.4,
Population Mean 14.1, 14.2, 14.3
7.5: Carrying Out a Test for 3.E, 4.B, 4.E 12.3, 12.4
a Population Mean
7.6: Confidence Intervals for the 1.D, 3.D, 4.C 13.3, 14.1, 14.2, 14.3
Difference of Two Means
7.7: Justifying a Claim About the 4.A, 4.B, 4.D 13.3, 14.1, 14.2, 14.3
Difference of Two Means Based
on a Confidence Interval
7.8: Setting Up a Test for the Difference 1.E, 1.F, 4.C 13.1, 13.2, 14.1, 14.2, 14.3
of Two Population Means
7.9: Carrying Out a Test for the Difference 3.E, 4.B, 4.E 13.1, 13.2, 14.1, 14.2, 14.3
of Two Population Means
8.5: Setting Up a Chi-Square Test for 1.E, 1.F, 4.C 15.2, 15.3
Homogeneity or Independence
8.6: Carrying Out a Chi-Square Test for 3.E, 4.B, 4.E 15.2, 15.3
Homogeneity or Independence
9.2: Confidence Intervals for the 1.D, 3.D, 4.C 16.2, 16.3
Slope of a Regression Model
9.3: Justifying a Claim About the 4.A, 4.B, 4.D 16.2, 16.3
Slope of a Regression Model
Based on a Confidence Interval
9.4: Setting Up a Test for the Slope 1.E, 1.F, 4.C 16.2, 16.3
of a Regression Model
9.5: Carrying Out a Test for the 3.E, 4.B, 4.E 16.2, 16.3
Slope of a Regression Model
Project: Students will complete a project in which they are required to design an
experiment or sample survey, collect data, and analyze their results using an appropriate
method of inference (Skills 1.A, 1.B, 1.C, and 1.E). The project emphasizes that the big
idea of variation and distribution has been the underlying theme throughout all nine units.
Students develop hypotheses (Skills 1.F and 4.A) and then collect their own data and
examine it graphically, exploring measures of center, shape, and variation (Skills 2.A, 2.B,
and 2.C). They justify the approximate shape of the sampling distribution for the statistic
and check conditions for inference (Skill 4.C) and then obtain the test statistic and p-value
(Skill 3.E). They justify their claim based on the test statistic in the context of the study
(Skills 4.B and 4.E). All three big ideas are reviewed in this project. CR7
In proposing a question to be answered, you should consider what you find interesting.
What are your hobbies or passions in life? You will be spending much time on this project,
so think about a question that you are interested in discovering the answer to. Make sure
that it is a question that can be answered and not one that is completely open-ended. You
must collect your own data. You cannot use data from another source, such as the internet,
that you can look up. You must implement a sample survey or conduct an experiment.
Before you begin collecting data, you must consider how you will analyze the data. Will
your analysis answer your question? Test this by making up some data in response to
your survey or experiment. Try to analyze it. Do you meet the conditions of the procedure?
Do your results provide an answer to your question? If so, you may begin collecting
your data. A self-critique is required in your written report. Consider the strengths and
weaknesses of the project. What went right? What went wrong? What would you change
if you were to do it again?