Free Introduction to Statistics Lesson Plans
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Intro Statistics Units
The Math Medic Intro Statistics course runs two semesters and gives students first-hand experience with the statistical problem-solving process: forming a statistical question, collecting or considering data, analyzing it, and interpreting what it says.
Compared to AP® Statistics, this course is more scaffolded, moves at a more relaxed pace, and covers less content. It’s built for students taking statistics for the first time.
You get ready-to-be-taught lessons for each day of the school year. Every lesson follows the Experience First, Formalize Later (EFFL) model: students work in small groups on an activity, then you formalize the learning together. Homework, quizzes, and tests for all 11 units are available through Math Medic Plus.
- Understand the four components of the statistical investigative process.
- Learn the difference between sampling methods and types of bias.
- Design and interpret observational studies and experiments.
- Understand inference in the context of data collection.
- Learn to display and interpret categorical and quantitative data (dotplots, stemplots, histograms).
- Develop measures of center (mean, median) and variability (range, IQR, standard deviation).
- Explore boxplots and identify outliers in datasets.
- Practice analyzing data through multiple visual and numerical summaries.
- Use percentiles and z-scores to describe locations in distributions.
- Transform data to examine effects on center and spread.
- Understand and apply normal distribution concepts and the empirical rule.
- Use technology to calculate areas and values under a normal curve.
- Analyze relationships between categorical and quantitative variables using graphs and context.
- Study correlation and regression, including least-squares regression lines.
- Assess linear models using residuals and interpret slope and intercept.
- Apply statistical tools through real-world context.
- Explore randomness and conduct simulations to estimate probability.
- Apply rules of probability using two-way tables, Venn diagrams, and conditional probabilities.
- Use multiplication rules for independent events, permutations, and combinations.
- Solve compound probability problems and interpret real-world contexts.
- Distinguish between discrete and continuous random variables.
- Analyze binomial distributions and calculate expected values.
- Use normal approximations for binomial distributions when appropriate.
- Apply concepts through calculations and cumulative review.
- Define and identify sampling distributions of sample proportions and means.
- Examine how sample size affects center and variability of distributions.
- Apply the Central Limit Theorem to justify normal approximations.
- Use simulations and activities to reinforce learning.
- Construct and interpret confidence intervals for a proportion.
- Analyze margin of error and sample size impacts.
- Use formulas and conditions to estimate population proportions.
- Understand the logic and language of hypothesis tests.
- Perform hypothesis tests for a proportion.
- Use p-values and context to make decisions about hypotheses.
- Construct and interpret confidence intervals for a mean.
- Use formulas and conditions to estimate population means.
- Perform hypothesis tests for a mean.
- Estimate and test claims about differences between proportions and means.
- Use quizzes and review activities to synthesize comparisons.
- Apply statistical methods to real data collection and analysis.
- Formulate statistical investigative questions that clearly identify variables and populations, and anticipate variability.
- Design and evaluate methods of data collection including random sampling and experiments, accounting for bias and limitations.
- Represent and summarize data using graphical displays and numerical measures to describe distributions.
- Generalize from samples to populations, recognizing the impact of study design and variability on the scope of conclusions.
Why This Works
For most students, Intro Statistics is the first math class where the answer depends on context, and often the only statistics course they’ll ever take. Getting them to think like statisticians, rather than memorize procedures, is the whole job. Here’s how the course does it.
Students Do the Statistics Before They’re Told the Statistics
Every lesson opens with an activity students can work through in groups without you at the front of the room. They bungee-jump a Barbie to find a least-squares regression line. They sample Reese’s Pieces to build a sampling distribution. They design an experiment around anchored putting to see why random assignment matters.
Then you bring the class back together and connect what they just did to the formal notation and formulas. Students add that formal learning in the margins of the same page they just worked on, in a second color. Students explore topics using strategies and language that make sense to them, before being introduced to the formal vocabulary and conventions. This makes the learning stick.
What Teachers Get Back
- Planning time. A day-by-day sequence for all 10 units. Planning starts from a lesson, not a blank page.
- Facilitation support on every lesson. Each lesson post tells you what to watch for as groups work, which strategies to showcase, and where students usually get stuck.
- Differentiation and enrichment tips covering how to give students another way into the activity and how to stretch the ones who are ready for more.
- Color-coded answer keys with formal margin notes, so you can see exactly what to add and when.
- With Math Medic Plus: aligned homework, quizzes, and tests for every unit, plus a lesson video for every lesson.
Complete Your Curriculum
with Math Medic Plus
With a Math Medic Plus teacher subscription, you get access to our full curriculum resources. This includes ready-made assessments, lesson videos, and many more teacher resources.
Have Questions? Let Us Know!
Moving to a new curriculum can be a big step, but we’re here to help! Reach out to our team to learn more about making the switch to Math Medic as seamless as possible.
What Makes it Different
A Full Year, Day by Day
Most sites hand you activities. Math Medic hands you the course: a day-by-day schedule with the supplemental materials to go with it. Lessons are free. Assessments and lesson videos come with Math Medic Plus.
Built Around Student Discovery
Our lesson model uses activities to let students lead. Teachers don’t lecture. They respond.
Written by Classroom Teachers
Math Medic was created by high school math teachers, based on years of teaching math themselves. We’re not a publishing company. We’re your colleagues, and an extension of your math department.
The way this approach has changed my teaching style has been a complete game changer. Activities like these where we can bring the content to the students in a tangible way have been reinvigorating
The Math Medic resources are incredibly rich and powerful and steeped in the promotion of conceptual, applied thinking. Without a doubt, Math Medic has made me a better teacher.
This year, we went all in with Math Medic. And, so far, so good! As expected, it’s outside of a lot of comfort zones, but students are definitely thinking, talking, and developing concepts more deeply. So, thank you!
Trusted in Classrooms Like Yours
The Numbers Don’t Lie
Math Medic is used in classrooms and departments across the country, from single teachers to full district rollouts.
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Additional Resources
Bringing Intro Statistics to Your Whole Department
Math coaches, curriculum directors, department chairs, and principals use Math Medic to bring coherence across a team without running a textbook adoption.
With a department or district subscription:
- Every teacher works from the same sequence and the same assessments
- New and out-of-field teachers get facilitation support built into every lesson
- Lesson videos are ideal for student absences, make-up work, and teacher prep
- Standards alignment documents are available for curriculum review
- Pricing is transparent: $325 per teacher, per course, or $595 per teacher for the five-course core bundle
Moving a department to a new curriculum is a big step. Our team, led by our Head of School Adoptions, will walk you through what a rollout looks like and what it costs.
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Get instant access to our full curriculum of free Intro Statistics lesson plans by creating an account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Every Intro Statistics lesson plan, activity, and answer key is free with a Math Medic account. Homework, quizzes, tests, and lesson videos are available through a Math Medic Plus subscription, starting at $325 per teacher, per year.
Both cover the statistical problem-solving process, but Intro Statistics is more scaffolded, moves at a more relaxed pace, and covers less content. It’s built for students taking their first statistics course rather than students taking the AP® exam. If you’re teaching AP® Statistics, see our AP® Statistics lesson plans.
None! The Math Medic curriculum is not aligned to a textbook. We created the sequence of topics based on the Common Core State Standards and our experiences of what worked well with our own students. For homework, quizzes, and tests, we use the Math Medic Assessment Platform to supplement the lessons.
Math Medic Plus is a yearly teacher subscription that builds on the free lessons. It adds the Assessment Platform (premade and customizable homework, quizzes, and tests), a lesson video for every lesson, and Teacher Resources including post-assessment instructional guides, caregiver communications, and student self-reflection pages.
Yes. Math Medic Plus is available to individual teachers, departments, and districts. For multi-teacher pricing, request a custom quote.