Huntington High School Advanced Placement Statistics students recently headed outside for an end of year experiment. The class can get quite intense, so it’s necessary to inject some fun into learning.
The Classic Dart paper airplane.
“We invited students out to the cafeteria courtyard to participate in an experiment that we created to see which paper airplane flies farthest; the Arrow or the Classic Dart,” math teacher Lynn Hendricks said. “We have now gathered our data and plan to analyze it this week using a Matched Pair T-Test to see if there is a statistically significant difference in flying distance between the two types of paper airplanes.”
The AP Physics students enjoyed participating in the experiment. “It was a fun way to end the year while still incorporating what we learned from statistics,” senior Aidan Heller said. “I personally liked the experiment because I was able to see a bunch of my friends from other classes and how well their planes flew.”
Advanced Placement Statistics is a full-year, one credit course. To register for class requires successful completion of the Algebra 2 Regents or pre-calculus and a teacher recommendation.
“This course is designed to provide students with a learning experience equivalent to that of an introductory college course in statistics,” according to a description of the class in the high school course guide. “This course provides effective preparation for students interested in the social sciences, health sciences and business. Students will be introduced to the major concepts and tools for collecting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data. Students will sit for the Advanced Placement Statistics examination in May.”