Data tables, graphical claims, variables, outliers, correlation vs causation.
What to do if absent- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning — make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure — the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities — you open it through Schoology.
Week overview - Reading the Data: graphs, trends, outliers, and correlation vs causation
Turn an environmental data table into a clear graph, describe the trend, flag outliers, and judge whether the data shows correlation or causation.
- 1Choose an environmental data table and identify the independent and dependent variables.
- 2Sketch axes with labels and units, then plot the points carefully.
- 3Describe the overall trend in one sentence (rising, falling, or flat).
- 4Circle any outlier and write one possible reason it does not fit the pattern.
- 5Write one claim your graph supports and add the words because the data shows.
- 6Decide whether your graph proves causation or only shows correlation, and explain why in a sentence.
- • You will be able to build a properly labeled graph from a data table.
- • You will be able to describe a trend and flag outliers.
- • You will be able to tell correlation apart from causation.
Daily lessons this week
Open any day for its full lesson, the work due that day, and guided notes.
Clean labeled data table plus a drafted graph with titled and scaled axes, outlier notes, and one trend sentence.
CER paragraph with a specific claim supported by cited graph data, reasoning linking evidence to claim, a correlation/causation classification with justification, and one alternative explanation.
Finalized claim graph package: labeled data table, graph with titled scaled axes, CER paragraph, data-source citations, and outlier notes.
Quick intro to the week
- Hook: the same data can tell the truth or mislead depending on how the graph is built.
- Today's goal: make an honest graph and defend exactly one claim it supports.
- Monday bioethics debate connects: is a misleading graph a lie even if every number is correct?
- Reminder: your graded graphing packet is submitted in the PLTW course shell.
Your PLTW coursework this week
Do this: Advance your PLTW environmental problem by completing the data-analysis and graphical-claim section in the online course shell.
- • A graph must have labeled axes with units to support a claim.
- • Correlation between two variables does not prove one causes the other.
- • Build and label a graph from a data table.
- • Distinguish a correlation from a causal claim.
📋 PLTW evidence due: a labeled graph, a written trend description, and a correlation-versus-causation judgment in the course shell.
All PLTW activities are completed inside the PLTW course environment — this page only gives direction.
This week's PLTW tracker
Your week at a glance. Check off each deliverable as you finish it, then submit so Mr. Mendoza can see how the class is pacing.
Use the code Mr. Mendoza gave you, not your name. Saved on this device.
| Day | Date | Focus | Key deliverable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | Tue, Mar 23 | Graph draft | Clean labeled data table plus a drafted graph with titled and scaled axes, outlier notes, and one trend sentence. |
| Thursday | Wed, Mar 24 | CER paragraph | CER paragraph with a specific claim supported by cited graph data, reasoning linking evidence to claim, a correlation/causation classification with justification, and one alternative explanation. |
| Friday | Thu, Mar 25 | Claim graph submit | Finalized claim graph package: labeled data table, graph with titled scaled axes, CER paragraph, data-source citations, and outlier notes. |
- M: no school
- T: no school
- W: graph draft
- Th: CER paragraph
- F: claim graph submit
Due by week's end: Environmental claim graph.
What to do when absent
Most days, this class is your PLTW coursework — and PLTW is online and individual. So being out usually just means doing exactly what we did in class, from home.
Open Schoology (CMSD) and keep goingHow to get there: open the CMSD website, click Clever, sign in with your Microsoft (district) account, then open Schoology from Clever.
You can't do those from home — do this instead: Graphing packet.
Class still runs. A substitute will post today's plan — complete the online activity above; it's built to be self-guided. Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
Khan Academy StatisticsVocabulary
Virtual resources
Teacher-posted resources
Classroom documents for this lesson. Ones marked “Open the file” open right here; the rest are posted in Schoology. Use the label on each card to choose the right move.
Open this when the class reaches this activity and use it to complete the required lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Environmental data graphing and analysis by path:Biomedical-Innovations/Problem-4_Environmental-Health/4.1_Environmental-Health; keywords:environmental. Score 134. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Environmental data graphing and analysis by path:Biomedical-Innovations/Problem-4_Environmental-Health/4.1_Environmental-Health; keywords:environmental. Score 130. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Environmental data graphing and analysis by path:Biomedical-Innovations/Problem-4_Environmental-Health/4.1_Environmental-Health; keywords:environmental. Score 130. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
How to get there: open the CMSD website, click Clever, sign in with your Microsoft (district) account, then open Schoology from Clever.
Standards this week
WebXam practice
Drop your Week 10 here. Use a clear file name (your initials + project). Routine work still goes to Schoology (via the CMSD portal).
Upload a project