Normal Distribution in a real life context: Lake Tekapo Fish Mongers

Are you having trouble explaining what Normal distribution is and how it can be used in real life? Are your students craving a hands on activity that would make sense of this concept? Do you need an engaging project on statistics? Would you like an activity that already has enrichment, scaffolding and all of the material ready to go? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, this project is tailor made for you!

Your students will assume a role of a research team for a fishing company. They will have to use Normal distribution and associated skills (application of Z-scores, approximation of areas under the curve etc.) to predict fish populations for next year and hence find the most suitable offer there is on the market for them to sell of their fish.

This project shows a real life, practical and hands on approach to normal distribution, to make sense of it and enrich students with its potential application. This project can be done with a multitude of variants, increasing difficulty, scaffolding and extra tasks. All of this is explained in a simple manual for the teacher, that is part of the pack.

The module now also contains a detailed answer sheet with tips and instructions for the teacher, including the work and guide towards the correct answers and directions of the discussion that will lead towards the right solution.