This post outlines an activity to introduce linear functions (or scatter plots). The students are tasked with shopping for a used car – a specific make and model. They go to Carmax.com to find mileage and price for 10 cars for sale. They have to find a make and model that has at least 10 cars and can change the search radius to include all locations of Carmax as necessary.
They enter the data for each car into a table on a Google Doc. They are not to include the “k” or the “$” or “,” for price. This allows easier transfer of data. I do not use 0s for the mileage as the slope is more meaningful per thousand miles. For example, -$104 per thousand miles vs $.104 per mile.
Before they graph, you can provide them a common set of data to guide them through a trial run. This way you can show them your graph of the data to allow them to verify that they did it correctly. The data sets shown below are linked at the bottom of this post. (This can be useful for introducing systems of equations as Mustangs typically have a higher intercept and a steeper slope, which allows for a cluster of dots from both in an intersection.)
They copy and paste the mileage and price into a Google Sheet and attempt to graph. You can provide a link to a YouTube video on graphing a scatter plot to free you up to help individuals. The title of graphs should have the variable(s) and the individuals under study. A subtitle can be included to show when data was collected or a data set was accessed. The variables should include units.
A next step would piggy back off of this activity with a Jamboard addressing mileage and price to help students interpret scatter plots.
Here are links to items used for this activity.
- link to a video showing how to create a scatter plot in Google Sheets
- set of data of mileage and price for used Camrys and Mustangs on a Google Sheets file
- table for collecting data on used cars (I include additional variables to allow for other types of graphing)
- PDF file of directions for students to shop on Carmax.com