In the video's medical treatment example, what are two possible explanations for why the treatment appears beneficial when looking at subgroups but harmful when looking at the aggregate data?

One explanation is that humans get the disease more seriously and are therefore more likely to be prescribed treatment. Another explanation is that humans, regardless of how sick they are, are more likely to get treated than cats.

Explain how socioeconomic differences can contribute to Simpson's paradox, using the example of standardized test scores in Wisconsin and Texas.

Wisconsin has proportionally fewer black and hispanic students and proportionally more white students than Texas. Because race is a major factor in standardized-test scores, this can cause Wisconsin to have higher overall scores than Texas, even if Texas students perform better when broken down by race.

Describe a scenario, different from those in the video, where Simpson's paradox might occur.

A new teaching method might appear to improve student grades in individual classrooms, but when all classrooms are combined, the overall grades might decrease due to the method being implemented in more challenging classes.

Exploring Simpson's Paradox Lesson Plan for 12th Grade

Free to teach as-is — the teacher guide, student handout, and slides are included.

Teaching a different level? Adapt this lesson →

Free — we'll email you an access link. Google Docs format.

Objective

I can identify and explain Simpson's paradox using real-world examples.

Part 1 of 4

Warm-up video

minutephysics · 4:40Vetted channel

We don't generate video — this one is by minutephysics on YouTube. The practice questions and exit ticket below were drafted by AI for this objective, and every question is editable in the teacher guide.

Part 2 of 4

Key concepts

3 concepts

1
Simpson's paradox is a statistical phenomenon where trends appear different depending on how data is grouped.
2
To resolve Simpson's paradox, it is important to consider causality and factors outside of the statistical data.
3
In the example comparing Texas and Wisconsin test scores, socioeconomic differences rather than educational quality explained the paradox.

Part 3 of 4

Practice

12 questions

What is Simpson's paradox?

Why can't statistics alone resolve Simpson's paradox?

Part 4 of 4

Exit ticket

Quick comprehension check

“Describe a real-world situation, different from the examples in the video, where Simpson's paradox might occur. Explain how the paradox arises in your chosen situation and what additional information would be needed to resolve it.”

Sample answer included in the free materials

Get the materials

Teacher guide, student handout, and slides — free, in Google Docs format

Teacher Guide
Complete lesson plan with answer keys and alternate activities
Student Handout
Printable worksheet
Slides
Ready to present

We'll ask for your email to send your access link — nothing else.

Teaching a group at a different level?

Where are your students right now? We'll rebuild this lesson to match — including the teacher guide, student handout, and slides, saved to your Google Drive.

Adapt This Lesson

Exploring Simpson's Paradox

Objective

Warm-up video

Key concepts

Practice

Exit ticket

Get the materials

Teaching a group at a different level?

Related lessons

Mean, Median, and Mode

Hypothesis Testing Errors

Hypothesis Testing: Null vs. Alternative