Association vs. Causation
Authored by Jennifer Gasson
Mathematics
9th Grade
CCSS covered
Used 241+ times
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About
This quiz focuses on the critical statistical concept of distinguishing between association (correlation) and causation, which is fundamental to data analysis and interpretation in high school mathematics. Appropriate for 9th grade students, this assessment requires students to analyze various real-world scenarios and determine whether two variables have a direct cause-and-effect relationship or simply occur together without one directly causing the other. Students must understand that causation implies one variable directly influences or produces a change in another variable, while association means variables tend to change together but without a direct causal link. The core reasoning skills involve identifying direct mechanisms of influence, recognizing confounding variables, understanding temporal relationships, and distinguishing between spurious correlations and genuine causal relationships. Students need to evaluate scenarios ranging from obvious causal relationships like running out of gas causing a car to be stranded, to more complex associations like the relationship between ice cream sales and temperature, where both variables may be influenced by an underlying factor. Created by Jennifer Gasson, a Mathematics teacher in US who teaches grade 9. This quiz serves as an excellent tool for introducing and reinforcing one of the most important concepts in statistical reasoning that students will use throughout their academic and professional lives. The assessment works effectively as a warm-up activity to gauge prior knowledge, as guided practice during initial instruction, or as formative assessment to check student understanding before moving to more complex statistical analysis. Teachers can use this quiz for homework assignments to reinforce classroom learning or as a review tool before summative assessments on data analysis and interpretation. The varied question formats, from direct classification tasks to comparative analysis, help students develop nuanced thinking about statistical relationships. This quiz aligns with standards S-ID.B.6, which requires students to represent data on two quantitative variables and evaluate the fit and significance of functions as models, and S-IC.A.1, which focuses on understanding statistics as a process for making inferences about population parameters based on random samples.
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15 questions
Show all answers
1.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
3 mins • 1 pt
Is it Association or Causation?
The number of cold, snowy days and the amount of hot chocolate sold at a ski resort.
Association
Causation
Tags
CCSS.HSS.ID.C.9
2.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
3 mins • 1 pt
Is it Association or Causation?
The number of miles (at a constant speed on a level road) and the amount of gas used.
Association
Causation
Tags
CCSS.HSS.ID.C.9
CCSS.HSS.ID.C.8
3.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
3 mins • 1 pt
Is it Association or Causation?
The age of a child and their shoe size.
Association
Causation
Tags
CCSS.HSS.ID.C.9
4.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
3 mins • 1 pt
Is it Association or Causation?
The amount of cars a salesperson sells and how much commission she makes.
Association
Causation
Tags
CCSS.HSS.ID.C.9
CCSS.HSS.ID.C.8
5.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
3 mins • 1 pt
Is it Association or Causation?
The number of cars traveling during a busy holiday weekend and the number of accidents reported.
Association
Causation
Tags
CCSS.HSS.ID.C.9
6.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
3 mins • 1 pt
Is it Association or Causation?
Annual salary and blood pressure for men aged 20-60.
Association
Causation
Tags
CCSS.HSS.ID.C.9
CCSS.HSS.ID.C.8
CCSS.HSS.ID.B.6
CCSS.HSS.ID.B.5
7.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
3 mins • 1 pt
Which example shows CAUSATION?
High social media usage and reduced grades.
Car ran out of gas and being stranded on the side of the road.
Tags
CCSS.HSS.ID.C.9
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