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Scale Factor

Who should win extreme weight loss competitions?

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Scale Factor

Who should win extreme weight loss competitions?

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Who should win extreme weight loss competitions? In the TV game show The Biggest Loser, contestants compete to lose the greatest percent of body weight. While some praised the show as a helpful source of inspiration, others criticized it as an unrealistic and unhealthy example of how to lose weight.

In this lesson, students use linear functions and lines-of-best-fit to predict results from Season 8 of The Biggest Loser and discuss whether such examples of extreme weight loss are realistic and sustainable.

REAL WORLD TAKEAWAYS

  • Losing no more than 2 pounds per week is considered healthy weight loss. The rapid, massive weight loss displayed on The Biggest Loser and other extreme weight loss shows is far out of line with this recommendation.

MATH OBJECTIVES

  • Create and interpret scatterplots
  • Estimate a line of best fit and use it to make predictions
  • Appreciate how the precision of a line-of-best fit changes as more data is added

Appropriate most times as students are developing conceptual understanding.
Grade 8
Functions
Grade 8
Functions
Content Standards 8.SP.1 Construct and interpret scatter plots for bivariate measurement data to investigate patterns of association between two quantities. Describe patterns such as clustering, outliers, positive or negative association, linear association, and nonlinear association. 8.SP.2 Know that straight lines are widely used to model relationships between two quantitative variables. For scatter plots that suggest a linear association, informally fit a straight line, and informally assess the model fit by judging the closeness of the data points to the line. 8.SP.3 Use the equation of a linear model to solve problems in the context of bivariate measurement data, interpreting the slope and intercept. For example, in a linear model for a biology experiment, interpret a slope of 1.5 cm/hr as meaning that an additional hour of sunlight each day is associated with an additional 1.5 cm in mature plant height.
Mathematical Practices MP.3 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. MP.4 Model with mathematics.

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