The Interpreting slope and y-intercept of lines of best fit exercise appears under the 8th grade (U.S.) Math Mission. This exercise practices explaining the meaning of slope and y-intercept for lines of best fit on scatter plots.
Types of problems[]
There is one type of problem in this exercise:
- Assuming the line correctly shows the trend in the data, what does it mean that the line's y-intercept is ___?: This problem features a real-life example of slopes being used, and users are asked to find what it means when the y-intercept equals a certain number, assuming that the line correctly shows the trend in the data.
Assuming the line correctly shows the trend in the data, what does it mean that the line's y-intercept is ___?
Strategies[]
Basic knowledge of scatter plots are required for success while doing this exercise.
- A good scatter plot has the independent variable on the x-axis and the dependent variable on the y-axis. The scale of both axes should be reasonable, making the data as easy to read as possible.
Real-life applications[]
- Slope is intimately tied to calculus and the derivative, so any reference to slope can find importance in the calculus.
- Being able to recognize slope quickly can assist recognizing if answers are correct when checking work.