Curriculum placement
Grade 8. This describes the skill, not a learner estimate.
Scatter plots and trend lines
Interpret associations and fit an informal trend line
Problem types
- Describe the association
- Predict with a trend line
- What the slope means
- Choose the line that fits the data best
- Judge how well a line fits the data
- Fit a trend line to a scatter plot
- Compare two fitted lines
- Read an estimate from a fitted line
Builds on
- Linear models of a situation
- Coordinates in four quadrants
- Reading scaled picture and bar graphs · Earlier idea
Reading a scaled bar graph means reading the scale on the axis, as a scatterplot uses a scale on each axis to place points.
Leads to
- Reading slope and intercept in context
- Residuals and correlation
- Checking a model against evidence · Extend the idea
A trend line on a scatterplot is a model, and model validation checks how well it fits the data.
Related skills
- Two patterns on one graph · Related idea
Pairs of numbers that follow a rule lie on a line when plotted, and a scatterplot shows how closely real data follow a rule.
- Rules for an arithmetic sequence · Shared foundations
- Distance in the coordinate plane · Shared foundations
- Side lengths from coordinates · Shared foundations
- A graph as the solution set · Shared foundations
Open the interactive map to explore lessons and skill connections.