Effect of Outliers on Mean and Median

Outliers, are numbers that stray from the "most popular" area of data. This could be a number that is very low, very very high, or negative, as long as it does not fit in with the general data area. These numbers affect the mean because mean is the average of all numbers on the graph no matter where they lie. An extremely large number in a group of single digit data provides an inaccurate understanding of the mean of the data. This can also be a technique in advertising to make a certain product look more popular, less expensive, etc. Outliers have a fairly dramatic affect on the mean of a set of data but do not have much affect on median. They will not change the median of a data set any more or less than another number would. For more information, keep up with what we're doing in class on Mr. Fisch's Algebra Blog.

Conference Reflective Post

To start off, I am for the most part pleased with this class. It has met most of my expectations with the exception of the difficulty level. I am open minded knowing Algebra 1 concepts will increase in difficulty, but so far with 2-3 question assessments, and simple review topics, I find the class not pushing me to my full potential. The topics we discuss in class are going well for me right now. Even if the concept is a little bit new, it takes little time to catch on. One challenge is that I do not have as many friends in that class as other classes, but am working on that. One thing you could do as a teacher that would benefit me as well as the rest of the class is check/grade the homework you assign, especially videos and self check questions. I have noticed not a ton of people do as much of the homework you give as you might want them too, and I think this might tempt them to do it. As a student, I can help myself by completing the class notes fully, and to the best of my ability as well as asking questions when I'm stumped. My parents are helpful to me when I need it but haven't needed to help me with much work at all. I don't believe there is anything else to say about this class so this concludes my Conference Reflective Post.

SLOPE

Intercepts and slopes are two building blocks for many things we will learn this year. It is crucial to understand slope in the context of an equation referred to as y=mx+b. Can you identify which part of this equation is the slope? (m) is the slope of the equation, but what on earth is a slope? A slope is a mathematical word used for the steepness of a line. Many have learned it as rise over run, or as I learned it, delta Y over delta X. The slope can be used to get from any point on a line to the next. By starting at a point on aline, the slope can be used to rise up, and run over to the next point. There are a few different kinds of slope as well. A positive slope is a line that ascends when looking left to right. A negative slope descends looking left to right, and no slope moves neither up nor down looking left to right. Hope this leaves you with a better understanding of the critical concept of slope.