Data Science for Young Minds — Grade 3
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
| What correlation means | What correlation means: two things change together |
| Positive correlation | Positive correlation: both go up together |
| Negative correlation | Negative correlation: one goes up, the other goes down |
| Just because things happen together does | Just because things happen together does not mean one causes the other |
| The ice cream-sunburn correlation | The ice cream-sunburn correlation: both go up in summer |
| The hidden third variable | The hidden third variable: hot weather causes both |
| What a confounding variable is | What a confounding variable is |
| Activity | Activity: match 5 correlations to their hidden third variables |
| Real causation | Real causation: we know the mechanism (how one thing actually causes another) |
| Fake connections | Fake connections: spurious correlations that are just coincidence |
| How scientists test for real causation | How scientists test for real causation: experiments and controls |
| Famous examples of mistaken causation | Famous examples of mistaken causation |
| Three categories | Three categories: causation (one really causes the other), correlation (they happen together but a third thing may cause both), coincidence (random) |
| How to evaluate a claim | How to evaluate a claim: look for mechanism, third variables, and evidence |
| Practice | Practice: classify 10 claims as causation, correlation, or coincidence |
| Take-home | Take-home: find a news headline confusing correlation and causation |
Sometimes two things increase or decrease at the same time. But does one cause the other?
The classic example: ice cream sales and sunburn rates both increase in summer. Does ice cream cause sunburns?
Learn to evaluate claims about cause and effect. Some are real; some just look real.
Practice evaluating real-world claims. Is it correlation, causation, or coincidence?