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I think this is a GREAT resource with massive potential. If you teach any current issues/sociology/modern history courses then this tool is a must. Even if you teach courses like 'algebra' then this tool has potential. I spent less than five minutes looking at the query 'regression analysis' and found two valid content related applications of regression analysis that I could easily use with an algebra I, II or precal course. As an example in the first resource I came across this http://web.sny.tv/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090424&content_id=1499716&vkey=1 article from SNY.tv that mentions "each (interception) in the minus column costs you approximately six points on average over many years of regression analysis." I can see just having an algebra I course examine/explain what that means mathematically, I can see allowing some students to group, decide what data they would need to confirm that analysis and if you wanted let them analyze the data or look for the analysis that has already been done by contacting the author/NFL. If I can find that kind of information within 5 minutes then imagine what someone with imagination could do! Great resource, a must share with your core content teachers and I firmly believe this tool could quickly vault up the list of most useful very ,very quickly. I can't let this go without thinking about differentiation in the classroom, I search for a topic, let groups look at the timeline and choose their own reading (if I have a group that will be challenged by their choice, I might point them to another reading that might scaffold their understanding), but I've built in choice, built in the ability to manage the sources, opened up the ability to quickly find multiple types of sources (video, blogs, primary sources).

Great examples of problems/data sets that can be analyzed. I do think there are a considerable amount of regression equations that may/may not be categorized appropriately. That said, it's a great set of questions to discuss with students, great data sets that can be updated with a little bit of research as most are 10 years old. One of the best compilations of regression problems that I've come across.

Movie box office data that is current and very comprehensive. Several different trends are easy to track including exponential, and log functions. Great for using with students to create regression models, making predictions based on the models, checking the results and re-analyzing. Also, when a movie doesn't follow the predictions there are often easy to understand reasons for why the movies behave differently (a holiday weekend may cause the movie to gross more on a given weekend than predicted, etc.)

Great weekly 60 second podcast that can be used as an incredible starter. I just listened to three podcasts that involved solar power, Mars, laughter and morality, and regressions to liars. If you can't start a conversation or class with those topics you aren't very imaginative!

A simulation of the stock market. A great running application to use in algebra classes, as it allows students to use algebraic concepts to manage their portfolio. Not directly skill or concept related, but can utilize graphing, formula use (as simple as P/E ratio, to regression analysis, to derivatives). For those teachers who think a little outside the box. I would be glad to hear how others might envision using this in their classroom.

I like Dave's blog for several reasons. He gives his students voice, he uses technology well, and he seems to find some interesting activities for his students. This post is right up my alley; he uses data that is relevent to his students, has them do some basic analysis and then in explore other data and compare/analyze the data with the original (relevant) data!

s a software tool for detecting equations and hidden mathematical relationships in your data. Its primary goal is to identify the simplest mathematical formulas which could describe the underlying mechanisms that produced the data. Eureqa is free to download and use.

Swivel is a great data source for students and teachers alike. You can create graphs right on swivel or download the data sources and create your own. The data set shown in the link is food expenditures at home and away from home by year since 1933. I really like the food expenditures away from home since 1947, it looks like a nice exponential decay function. It would be nice to have students analyze what happened in 1947 to cause the graph to change its behavior. If you are a SS or American History teacher, I think looking at the initial aspect of this data would be interesting given that the data mirrors the great depression and as America came out of the depression the amount of money spent on food items at home decreased, until the advent of WWII!