Lesson 9

What’s the Correlation?

These materials, when encountered before Algebra 1, Unit 3, Lesson 9 support success in that lesson.

Lesson Narrative

The mathematical purpose of this lesson is for students to further investigate the types of relationships that exist between two variables. Students begin to distinguish between correlation and causation. Previously, students practiced determining if two variables have a correlation, and they also determined what type of correlation the two variables shared (positive, negative, strong, and weak). This lesson prepares students to create scenarios in which two variables are correlated or have a causal relationship in the associated Algebra 1 lesson. Students attend to precision (MP6) when they distinguish between correlation and causation and construct viable arguments (MP3) when they explain their reasoning for types of correlations.


Learning Goals

Teacher Facing

  • Compare correlation and causation of data in context.

Student Facing

  • Let’s reason about correlation of two variables in a situation.

CCSS Standards

Addressing

Building Towards

Print Formatted Materials

Teachers with a valid work email address can click here to register or sign in for free access to Cool Down, Teacher Guide, and PowerPoint materials.

Student Task Statements pdf docx
Cool Down Log In
Teacher Guide Log In
Teacher Presentation Materials pdf docx

Additional Resources

Google Slides Log In
PowerPoint Slides Log In