Session 5: Practice Activities
Time to Practice!
6 activities to reinforce what you learned. Try them all!
Difficulty levels: Easy Medium Challenge
1 Correlation Spotter Easy Activity
For each pair, decide if the correlation is positive, negative, or none: (1) Exercise and fitness, (2) Age and number of baby teeth, (3) Shoe size and intelligence, (4) Temperature and coat-wearing.
2 Hidden Variable Hunt Easy Discussion
For each correlation, find the hidden third variable: (1) More firefighters at a scene = more damage (bigger fires!), (2) Students with bigger feet score higher on reading tests (they are older!), (3) More churches in a town = more crime.
3 Correlation vs. Causation Sort Medium Activity
Sort 10 claims into three piles: Causation (proven), Correlation (related but not proven to cause), and Coincidence (random). Discuss borderline cases.
4 Headline Rewriter Medium Writing
Find 3 news headlines that say 'X causes Y.' Rewrite each one more accurately: 'X is associated with Y' or 'X and Y tend to happen together.' Explain what would be needed to prove actual causation.
5 Design an Experiment Medium Activity
Pick a correlation you want to test (like 'does listening to music help you study?'). Design a simple experiment with a treatment group and a control group. What would you measure? How would you keep it fair?
6 Spurious Correlations Gallery Challenge Research
Visit tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations (or research similar examples). Find 3 hilarious spurious correlations. For each one, explain why the correlation exists (coincidence or hidden variable?) and why it clearly is not causation.