Question

a researcher studied the relationship between the number of times a certain species of cricket will chirp in one minute and the temperature outside. her data is expressed in the scatter plot and line of best fit below. what is the meaning of the x - value on the line when y = 65?
answer
the number of times the cricket could be expected to chirp if its 65°f.
the number of times the cricket could be expected to chirp if its 109.1°f.
the actual number of times the cricket chirped when it was 109.1°f.
the actual number of times the cricket chirped when it was 65°f.

Explanation:

In a scatter - plot with a line of best fit, the \(x\) - axis represents "Chirps Per Minute" and the \(y\) - axis represents "Temperature (Degrees Fahrenheit)". When we are looking for the \(x\) - value on the line of best fit for a given \(y = 65\) (where \(y\) is temperature), we are using the line of best fit (a predictive model) to estimate. The line of best fit is not for actual data points (eliminates options about actual chirps), and we are predicting chirps (\(x\)) for a given temperature (\(y = 65\)).

Answer:

The number of times the cricket could be expected to chirp if it's \(65^{\circ}F\).