Name ___________________________ Date __________________ Period_________
Relationships on a Scatter Plot
Goals:
Students will analyze scatter plots to determine:
-Are variables X and Y related?
-Are variables X and Y linearly related? If so How?
-Does the variation in Y change depending on X?
A scatter plot reveals relationships between two variables. Such relationships manifest themselves by
any non-random structure in the plot. Various common types of relationships are demonstrated in the
examples.
Part I – Positive and Negative
Positive relationship
a clear line that goes up.
Inverse or Negative relationship
a line that goes down.
No relationship
no clear pattern, or line is perfectly
horizontal or vertical
The following are descriptions of slope of a line or pattern on a scatter plot. Identify the relationship
that best fits each description.
1) Positive slope ____________________
2) Negative slope ____________________
3) -36.5 ____________________
4) 0.0036 _____________________
5) 23.6 _____________________
6) _____________________
7) In a positive relationship, if the X variable increases what happens to the Y variable?
8) In a negative relationship, if the X variable increases what happens to the Y variable?
9) State a general rule for using slope to determine the relationship on a scatter plot.
∞
