What is a statistics poster?

A statistics poster is a display containing graphs that summarize data, provide different points of view, and answer some question (or questions) about the data.

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Who is eligible to enter?

All students in grades kindergarten through senior high school in Pennsylvania are eligible.

Entries will be judged in four grade level categories:

Category 1: Grades K-3
Category 2: Grades 4-6
Category 3: Grades 7-9
Category 4: Grades 10-12

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Deadline for submission

Posters must be postmarked February 28, 2002 and must be delivered to the following address:

2002 PA Statistics Poster Competition
c/o T. Short - Dept. of Mathematical Sciences
Villanova University
800 Lancaster Ave.
Villanova, PA 19085-1699

Prize winners for the Pennsylvania Competition will be announced by April 15, 2002.

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Judging and prizes

Ordinarily, a $72 first prize, a $48 second prize, and a $24 third prize will be awarded in each of the four grade level categories.

Judging by statisticians and educators will take place at the March 2002 meeting of the Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of Mathematics. All decisions by the judges are final.

Posters submitted to the Pennsylvania Statistics Poster Compeititon will also be submitted to the national statistics poster competition, which is coordinated by the American Statistical Association (please visit www.amstat.org for more information).

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What the judges will look for

1. Overall impact of the display for eye-catching appeal and visual attractiveness, and for its ability to draw in the viewer to investigate the graph or graphs.
   
2. Clarity of the message's demonstration of relationships and patterns, obvious conclusions, and the ability to stand alone, even without the documentation the back of the poster.
   
3. Appropriateness of the graphics for the data
   
4. Creativity, neatness, and originality.

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Rules

1. Posters are to measure between 18 and 24 inches high and 24 and 30 inches wide.
   
2. Any weight of paper is permitted. A good way to send a poster is to place it flat between taped sheets of cardboard.
   
3. Any layers of paper on posters must be affixed securely. Building a third dimension to the poster with paper or other materials is strongly discouraged.  Lamination is recommended.
   
4. Posters must be the original design and creation of the entrants themselves.
   
5. Representing more than one aspect of the the data in one graph or by using more than one graph is strongly encouraged.
   
6. The poster's subject matter is the choice of the participants. A listing of the original data, a description of the method of collection, and the purpose of the experiment should be taped to the back of the poster. (Cite references for published data.)
   
7. Paper clip the entry form to the front of the poster. Be sure the poster itself gives no information that identifies the students, teacher, school,  or district.
   
8. Students may work individually or in teams. For the grades K-3 category, a team may consist of up to an entire class. For the other categories, the team may have up to four students. The highest grade represented by any team member will determine the entry category.
   
9. All posters submitted become property of the competition organizers as a "work for hire" under the copyright act, and will not be returned.

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Contact Information

For more information, please contact one of the Competition organizers:

Tom Short
Department of Mathematical Sciences
Villanova University
800 Lancaster Ave.
Villanova, PA 19085-1699
Phone: 610-519-6961
Fax: 610-519-6928
E-mail: thomas.short@villanova.edu

and

Rosemary Reshetar
Educational Testing Service
Rosedale Road
Mailstop 31-L
Princeton, NJ 08541
Phone: (609) 683-2260
Fax: (609) 683-2130
E-mail: rreshetar@ets.org