Unit D: Graphing

Understanding Linear Trends and Scatterplots


Buying and selling stocks can be risky. With some stocks, the stock price increases, which results in a high profit.



With other stocks, the stock price decreases and most of the initial investment is lost.

Graphing is a way of using a picture to represent relationships between two sets of data. A graph illustrates how the dependent variable (the y-variable) is affected when the independent variable (the x-variable) changes. Trends and patterns are often easy to identify from a graph. In this lesson, linear trends and scatterplots will be discussed.
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to
 
  • identify and describe the characteristics of a linear relation represented in a graph, a table of values, number patterns, or an equation
  • sketch the graph for a given table of values
  • create a graph to represent a set of data
  • describe the trend of a scatterplot as a positive correlation, negative correlation, or no correlation
  • solve a problem that requires interpolation or extrapolation of data