Scatterplot of the Old Faithful Geyser Data
In this
activity, you will generate scatterplots for the
durations of the Old Faithful geyser
eruptions and the intervals between them. If you have not
calculated the mean, median and mode
for the data set, do that first so you will have the
statistics you need to answer the questions below. Using Excel (the TI-83 is excluded from this
activity because of its inability to deal with a large data set),
generate a scatterplot of the day (x axis)
verses eruption time (y axis) so you can "see" the data. 
This data exists in two files; one is in Excel Data format and one is in Text format.
Take a close look at the scatterplot. Is there anything surprising about the data that was not revealed by the mean, median and mode? Sometimes looking at the data visually reveals information that is not obvious from looking at simple descriptive statistics like the mean, median and mode.
Generate a scatterplot with the duration time as the variable on the x axis and the time interval between eruptions as the variable plotted on the y axis. Is there any relationship between the eruption duration and the eruption interval?
Copyright © 1998 Central Virginia Governor's School for Science and Technology Lynchburg, VA