Statistics
Activity:
t Distributions
Posted on Jan 21, 2010
Topic: Continuous Distributions
Students compare the t distribution to the standard normal distribution and use the invT command to find critical values for a t distribution.
Downloads
Select Teacher or Student files from the drop down menu. Click on the file type you want to download.
Downloaded: 3926
Activity Key Steps:
In Problem 1, students explore characteristics of the t distribution by observing the differences between the graphs of the t distribution (dashed) and the standard normal distribution (bold). They will change the degree of freedom to change the sample size of the graph.
In Problem 2, students compare areas of the standard normal distribution and the t distribution by looking at the value of the integrals over a certain interval.
In Problem 3, students explore the critical values for a t distribution. They will find the critical values at the 95% level.
In Problem 4, students construct confidence intervals. They will construct 90% and 95% confidence intervals for the population mean by first finding the critical value, then the margin of error, and then subtracting and adding the error from and to the mean.
At the end of this activity, students will be able to graph the probability density function on the t distribution of n degrees of freedom, for various values of n. They will also know how to calculate a confidence interval for the t distribution of n degrees of freedom.