Resource Library

"We have to remember that what we observe is not nature herself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning." is a quote by German Physicist Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) that can be used in discussing the validity of measurements. The quote arose in a series of lectures delivered at University of St. Andrews, Scotland in the 1955-1956 academic year and published in Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science (1958).

A joke to be used in discussing permutations and combinations in a probability course. The Joke was written in 2016 by Judah Lesser an AP statistics student from El Paso, Texas.

A joke to be used in discussing the meaning of mutually exclusive events.

A joke for use with discussions about the relationship between sample size and power or in discussing the large sample caution in significance testing.

"Chance. Stupid, dumb, blind chance. Just a part of the strange mechanism of the world, with its fits and coughs and starts and random collisions." is a quote by American author Lauren Oliver (1982 - ). The quote appears in her 2010 novel Before I Fall.

A joke that can be used in discussing standard scores (e.g. the age of the longest lived horse was about 9 standard deviations above the average lifespan) and how they are a unites measurement. The joke was written by Dennis K. Pearl from Penn State University.

"May the odds be ever in your favor!" is a quote from The Hunger Games novels/movie trilogy by Suzanne Collins (1962 - ). It can be used in discussing the Law of Large Numbers and the position of the casino in betting games.

A video to teach about the uses of the Chi-squared statistic for goodness-of-fit and independence. The concept and lyrics are by Scott Crawford of University of Wyoming. The video won an honorable mention in the 2015 A-mu-sing contest. The music in the video is the Stevie Wonder hit "Signed Sealed Delivered I'm Yours."

A song that can be used in teaching about left-skewed data. Lyrics by Lawrence Mark Lesser of University of Texas at El Paso. The song received an honorable mention in the 2015 A-mu-sing contest. May sing to the tune of "Left of Center" by Suzanne Vega and Stephen Addabbo that was a minor hit for Joe Jackson and Vega from the 1986 soundtrack album for the coming-of-age film Pretty in Pink.

A song for use in discussing how it is important to think about variation along with averages in describing the information at hand. The music and lyrics were written by Lawrence Mark Lesser of University of Texas at El Paso. "On Average" took third place in the song category of the 2015 A-mu-sing contest.