Statistics: Normal Curve

Update: There are two new videos with explanations how to graph the normal curve and shade under the curve here.

The first thing we did in class was graph normalpdf, normalcdf, and shadenorm with the graphing calculator.  The point was to understand how to shade different areas under the normal curve by setting upper bound, lower bound, mean, and standard deviation with these exercises or examples.    These examples have the screen shots.  This powerpoint has good instructions.

We spent about 30 minutes explaining that normalpdf (x) must be defined under y=, 1E99 or -1E99 represent infinity on the TI84, normalpdf graphing a standard curve or normal curve, shadenorm uses lower bound, upper bound, mean, and SD, and normal cdf converts a z score into a percentage.  Largely, we set the window and practiced shading.  We only spent a few minutes converting z score to a percentage or percentile.  The point was to learn how to enter the data.  The screen shots provide the answers.

For the remainder of the class, the laptop died.  We talked about a normal curve, defined z score, introduced the z score equation, talked about comparing scores with the SAT and ACT as an example of standardizing two scores with different scales.  Their homework is to complete the overview and summary and the 2.1 worksheet for Friday.


We have a back-up Thinkpad for the seemingly dead laptop up and running.  Fingers crossed it works on Friday.  I am wed to the powerpoint slideshows.