The Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education is happy to
announce our 54th Cartoon Caption Contest – now ongoing every month for over four years!
Each month a cartoon, drawn by British cartoonist John Landers, is posted for you and your
students to suggest statistical captions (cartoons are posted at the beginning of the
month and submissions are due at the end of the month). The caption contest is offered
as a fun way to get your students thinking independently about statistical concepts.
The next cartoon and the entry rules for the contest ending November 30 are at
https://www.causeweb.org/cause/caption-contest/november/2020/submissions<…
The best captions will be posted on CAUSEweb and the winner(s) will receive their choice
of a coffee mug or t-shirt imprinted with the cartoon and their caption.
Enjoy.
October Results: There were 38 entries for the October caption contest that featured a
cartoon showing a fish tank with a group of fish gathered around a chart where another
fish is showing them a time series plot that rises and then falls sharply – but the axes
on the graph are unlabeled. The winning caption for the September contest was “While
humans often misrepresent data on graphs, statisfishians are known for their proper
scaling,”
written by Chris Lacke from Rowan University. Chris’ caption can be used to discuss the
importance of proper scaling to give a fair picture in graphical displays. An honorable
mention this month goes to Jim Alloway of EMSQ Associates for his caption “And here’s
where we discovered the relationship between aquarium volume and population growth,” that
would aid in discussing the concept of carrying capacity in population growth models. A
second honorable mention goes to Vimal Rao, a student at University of Minnesota, for his
caption “The power of visualizations to sea data” providing a pun allowing the cartoon to
be used in discussing the power of visualizations for presenting information.
Thanks to everyone who submitted a caption and congratulations to our winners!