Summary
In this lesson, students will explore the concepts of sampling distributions and the central limit theorem through hands-on activities and practical application in the Deadly Distribution digital game-based learning (DGBL) module.
Essential Question(s)
What is central limit theorem and why is an understanding of the central limit theorem essential to statistics?
Snapshot
Engage
Students use the Anchor Chart strategy to demonstrate what they already know about the concepts of sampling distribution and the central limit theorem.
Explore
Students play the first two missions of the Deadly Distributions DGBL module to get introduced to its mechanics and start exploring the core statistical concepts.
Explain
Students use the Inside Out strategy to produce deeper thinking about the concepts before explaining the concepts in greater depth.
Extend
Students extend their understanding of the concepts by playing the third mission of the Deadly Distribution DGBL module.
Evaluate
Students use the Always, Sometimes, Never True strategy to demonstrate knowledge of the statistical concepts.
Materials
Student devices with internet access
K20 Game Portal accounts or iPad apps of Deadly Distribution for each student
Whiteboard or large poster paper
Writing utensils
Paper
Inside Out handout (attached)
Always, Sometimes, Never True handout (attached)
Engage
To start the lesson, ask your students to write down anything they know about the central limit theorem, specifically focusing on terms and concepts and how they relate to each other. You can have them do this individually or in small groups.
Give them around 5 minutes to do this, and then discuss the terms and concepts they've come up with as a class. Using the Anchor Chart strategy, draw a chart of the concepts your students have come up with on the board or on a large piece of poster paper. Keep this chart available and visible for your students throughout the rest of the lesson.
Discuss concepts such as sample, mean and median, standard deviation, margin of error, confidence interval, and of course, the actual central limit theorem.
Explore
After this initial introduction and exploration of your students' knowledge of the topics, introduce them to the Deadly Distributions DGBL module. Click here to learn more about the game. It is recommended that you play through the game at least once before teaching with it so you have a general understanding of the story and how the game's mechanics function.
Have your students play through the first two missions of the game. This should take them 30-45 minutes. The first mission is a short tutorial that introduces most of the games mechanics, and the second mission begins to introduce the actual learning content.
Explain
Using a modified version of the Inside Out strategy, gauge your students' understanding and set them up for some deeper explanations. Give each student a copy of the "Inside Out Handout" available in the Attachments section.
Prompt them with a question about what the central limit theorem means. Have them write their thoughts in the innermost circle of the worksheet. Once all of the students have done this, have them find a partner and share this information, copying their partner's responses in the second circle.
Once all of your students have finished the worksheet, discuss some of their thoughts focusing on their understanding of the central limit theorem, making sure to watch for and correct any misconceptions. Some definitions that may be useful are listed below.
Sample Size: the number of observations or recordings that will be taken when collecting a statistical sample
Random Sampling: the random selection of a subset of individuals within a statistical population, thus allowing for a smaller subset of samples to represent a larger total population for statistical inference
Sampling Distribution: the set of all mean values of possible samples
Central Limit Theorem: regardless of the underlying distribution of the population, with a large enough sample size, the means, or proportions, of all samples from the same population will be equal to the mean, or proportion, of the population and that the distribution of the sample means, or proportions, will be a normal distribution
Extend
Now, have your students to go back and play mission three of Deadly Distribution so they can continue to apply what they have learned so far. This should take around another 30-45 minutes to complete. As mentioned previously, it is not required that players complete mission four, but if you have students who complete mission three very quickly, you can have them continue on to the final mission. It is much more challenging, however, and takes roughly another 30-45 minutes to complete.
Evaluate
Give each student an "Always, Sometimes, Never True Worksheet (Student)" and have them determine if each statement on the worksheet is always, sometimes, or never true. Make sure that they write a justification for their choice that is based on information presented over the course of the lesson.Once everyone has completed the worksheet, discuss each statement as a class. Read a statement and then have students raise their hands to show whether they decided if the statement is always, sometimes, or never true. Discuss the right answer for each statement, and if any students have a wrong answer, have them explain their thinking.
Resources
K20 Center. (2017). Deadly Distribution, OK: The Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma K20 Center. (n.d.).
K20 Center. (n.d.). Anchor Chart. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/64f2b35101a470dda36d44421900af08
K20 Center. (n.d.). Always, Sometimes, Never True. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f50685d2
K20 Center. (n.d.). Inside Out. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/a89b55a468ff764491d10ec5b2005c9d
