MathBench > Statistics

Normal Distributions and the Scientific Method

Visualising a normal distribution

In the applet below, you control the mean and SD of size of a population of fish.

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Use the applet to explore the following questions:

  1. How does the curve change when you increase the mean, but keep the SD constant?
  2. How does the curve change when you increase the SD, but keep the mean constant?
  3. What happens when you DECREASE the SD?
  4. What does the population look like when the mean and SD are approximately the same?
  5. What does the population look like when the mean is much larger than the SD?