Best At Life Triathlon Competition

In a group of at least 5 people, you will compete in a three-event battle to determine who
is the Best at Life. You must choose your group, design your competition events,
compete in the events, and use statistical analysis to determine who is the Best at Life.
Procedure
1) Find a group of 5 or 6 people. You may choose classmates, friends, family
members, etc.
2) Design three events for people to compete in. Each event must be quantitative in
nature (the result of the event is measured with a number). The events must meet
these guidelines:
a. For one event, the response variable must be measured in time.
b. For one event, the response variable must be measured in length.
c. For one event, the response variable must be measured in # of successes
out of 10.
3) Each individual in the group must compete in ALL THREE EVENTS a total of 3 times
for EACH event.
4) Use all of the data (15 or 18 scores per event, depending on whether there were 5
or 6 people) in order to describe the data.
5) Use each individuals best score in each event to determine the winner of each
event.
6) Use ALL OF each individuals best score in each event to determine the overall
winner of the competition and declare him/her Best at Life.
Reports
1) Create a presentation using Google Drives version of Power Point to present your
event design, event results, graphical representation and statistical analysis,
photographs and overall competition results. (If your group consists of students
from your class, you may create one poster and present together.)
Due Dates
1. Event design should be complete before the beginning of our next class.
2. Data Collection should be complete by the end of class Thursday, November 20th
at the latest.
3. Data analysis should be complete by the end of class Friday, November 21st at
the latest.
4. Group Presentations will be given on Tuesday, November 25th. (This is not a
suggestion.)
5. There will be an individual quiz related to the project on Wednesday, November
26th.

Competition Design
A. Event #1
For your first event, you must use a measurement of time. So the person with the best
time for this event will be the winner. Fill in the following chart to help you to design your
first event:
Name of Event
Description of Event
How will the event be measured?
Winner will be determined by
B. Event #2
For your second event, you must use a measurement of length. Fill in the following
chart to help you to design your second event:
Name of Event
Description of Event
How will the event be measured?
Winner will be determined by (ex.
Longest or shortest length to do.)

C. Event #3
For your third event, you must use a measurement of # of successes out of 10. Fill in
the following chart to help you to design your third event:
Name of Event
Description of Event
How will the event be measured?
Winner will be determined by (the
most successes or at least x number of
successes)

Graphical Representation and Statistical Analysis:

For each event you must describe the data.
o Decide on which measure of central tendency to use and explain why you
made that choice to determine the winner. (mean, median, mode)
o Describe the spread of the data, using appropriate statistical analysis.
o Describe whether the data seems to be approximately Normal or not. If
this is too difficult to determine, explain why.
Show one or more graphical representations for each event. Be thoughtful in
your choice of graphical representation.
o You may want to consider a Line Plot, Frequency Bar Graph/Histogram,
Box and Whisker Plot and/or a Frequency Distribution Curve
Describe whether there are any outliers, and whether they should or should not
be included in the statistical analysis.
Results
Determine who won each event, and how you know.
Determine who won the competition, and how you know.
Describe how and why you used the TOTAL z-scores to make this
determination.
Make sure all of these criteria are met for the data you have
**There should be more than one way you describe the data for each event
** Your representations should be clear and formatted correctly
**Correct formulas, steps, and diagrams should be followed
**You should be able to make some interpretations based on the
representations that you have
ONLY IF ALL YOUR RESULTS HAVE BEEN ANALYZED CAN YOU THEN CONTINUE
WITH THE REPORT
Your report, should have a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion that
accurately show the results you have found and analyzed during the Best at Life
competition.
Introduction:
o The rationale for the competition and the event design
o A brief description of each event and how the winner is found.
Body Paragraphs
o An in depth description and rationale for each event, and how the winner is
determined
o How you went about collecting the result for each event
o What tools you used to measure and how you recorded your data
o Analysis for each event and how you chose which way to graphically
represent the event
o Description of outliers, if it is normally distributed, and if anything should not
be included in the analysis

o Results on who won, and the justification behind these results.

Conclusion
o Restatement of who won the competition and if you truly believe they
deserve to win
o What was the most interesting part of the project? The most difficult?
o What did you learn about yourself as a mathematician and statistician
through this process?
Assessment
Both your report and your poster presentation will be assessed using the following
criteria.
Communication/Organization
Event Design:
Clearly explain the design of your events. Use photographs or diagrams, if
necessary.
Explain how you determined the events you were going to use.
Data Collection:
Describe how you collected the data.
o Who was doing the measuring.
o What tools did you use to measure.
o How did you record your data.
Organize your data in way that is easily read and understood.
Graphical Representation and Statistical Analysis:
Describe the data.
o Decide on which measure of central tendency to use and explain why you
made that choice.
o Describe the spread of the data, using appropriate statistical analysis.
o Describe whether the data seems to be approximately Normal or not. If
this is too difficult to determine, explain why.
Show one or more graphical representations for each event. Be thoughtful in
your choice of graphical representation.
o You may want to consider a Line Plot, Frequency Bar Graph/Histogram,
Box and Whisker Plot and/or a Frequency Distribution Curve
Describe whether there are any outliers, and whether they should or should not
be included in the statistical analysis.
Results
Determine who won each event, and how you know.
Determine who won the competition, and how you know.
o Describe how and why you used the TOTAL z-scores to make this
determination.
Effort
Complete ALL parts in both your report and presentation.
o Event Design, Data Collection, Graphical Representation and Statistical
Analysis, Results
Be creative in your events.
Work hard in class and dont waste time.
Do more work outside of class than during class.
Collect and analyze REAL data.

Be thoughtful in your choices. Make choices that are mathematically correct

and reasonable, instead of just what is easiest.
Mathematical Knowledge
Evidence of mastering the following learning targets MUST be shown:
1 = Find the mean, median and mode (if appropriate) of a set of
data.
2 = Determine the best measure of central tendency to use.
4 = Use mean and standard deviation to describe a set of data.
5 = Calculate and use z-score to compare pieces of data to
populations.
Evidence of mastering the following learning targets CAN be shown, depending on
the choices you make when describing your data:
3 = Create a line plot and a frequency distribution (possibly Normal) curve.
6 = Create a Box and Whisker Plot
7 = Use the Median and IQR to determine outliers