Critical Values & Margins of Error
Provided by: Skew the Script|Published on: October 12, 2022|Last updated: September 26, 2026
Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12, AP
Type: Lesson Plans
Subjects: Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics
Authors: Skew the Script
Location: North America, North America > United States, North America > United States > Michigan
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- This lesson applies information about sample size, critical values, standard error, and confidence intervals to analyze a study about the safety of tap water in Flint, Michigan.
- The lesson includes a step-by-step video, guided questions, student handout, reflection form, presentation slides, teacher guide, and answer key.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- This lesson applies statistics to address a current public health issue.
- This is a great way to learn about how statistics is used in experimental design and the importance of large sample sizes.
Additional Prerequisites
- This resource is the second part of a 2-part set of lessons on applying statistics to the Flint water crisis.
- Students should have an understanding of confidence intervals and how to apply them before using this resource and should know terms like standard error, standard deviation, and z-score.
- Teachers and students need to create a free account to access the materials.
Differentiation
- Parts of the video can be used in civics classes during lessons about public policy related to health and the role regulations play in shaping the health of communities.
- This resource includes free guides on how to use the resource in different classroom settings, including in-person, online, and hybrid settings.
- They suggest using the video in a flipped classroom format, where students watch the lecture at home and then come to class to discuss and work through the questions.
- This lesson could be used to supplement science classes when discussing study results, the scientific method, or when performing lab procedures that require replication, control groups, and data analysis.
Students will learn how to compute error margins and identify key values, thanks to this resource. When comparing and evaluating the accuracy of the findings from the Flint water quality report, this technique is crucial for measuring the variability in the estimating process and checking the level of confidence. It is advised to use this resource when instructing.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
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