Lynz Mullaney

Mullaney's "Bowling for Brains" project is a highly interactive series of lessons that shows students how to interpret statistics and analyze data to recognize how they are used to present hypotheses. The project introduces students to magazines and Internet polls and applies scientific thinking to examine how researchers' preconceived notions and biases affect their conclusions. Students then form hypotheses of their own and conduct their own surveys in order to prove or disprove their ideas. The unit ends with a trip to the bowling alley where students are grouped to test their hypotheses. The project promotes objective thinking and opens students' eyes to the way statistics can be skewed to meet the researcher's goals.