JJHS students use Olympic training to prepare for TAKS

Newsboy photo/ Sharon Kerr THE STATISTICS OLYMPICS in Lynn Jones' eight grade class exercises the brain as students compete to gather data for statistical analysis.

Jasper Junior High math teacher Lynn Jones is preparing her students for the Olympics, but it's grey matter and not muscles that are getting all the exercise.

The Statistics Olympics are a fun way for students to understand how data is sorted and analyzed.

Students have devised a variety of ways to measure results. At one of the 11 stations, it's a timed test to see how many crumpled paper balls can be tossed in a basket in 30 seconds. At another station, it's how many right answers to a set of flash cards with math problems.

Jones has purchased a variety of trinkets like wristbands and funny erasers to award to "winners," but none of this is to prove who is fastest or smartest. They need enough data to analyze results in terms of the mean, the median, mode and range.

The purpose of the exercise is to help these eighth grade students get ready for the TAKS competition.

"It's a different approach to learning," Jones said. "They learn better when it's hands-on."