Let’s all get in on the Taylor Swift phenomenon!

You don’t have to be a Swiftie to enjoy this problem. In order to make math relevant to my students who are studying graphing linear functions I assigned this problem:

______________________________________________________

The table shows the number of people who attended a Taylor Swift concert tour, (in millions of people) for selected years.

(Source: Billboard)


Year

(Tour)

2009

(Fearless)

2011

(Speak Now)

2013

(Red)

2015

(1989)

2018

(Reputation)

2023

(Eras)

Attendees

(millions)

1.2

1.64

1.7

2.28

2.939

  1. Use the regression capabilities of a graphing utility to find a linear model of the form f(t) = mt + b for the data.

  2. In the model, f(t) represents the number of attendees (in millions of people) and t represents the year.

                                            f(t) = 0.189t – 378.543

  1. Use a graphing utility to plot the data and graph the model. Insert a picture of the graph.

                                            

  1. How does the model compare with your data – choose two years to compare? 

  1. Use your model to predict how many people will attend The Eras Tour in 2023.

                                                                   
                            f(2023) = 0.189(2023) – 378.543 = 3.804
            The model predicts that there will be 3.804 million attendees for the Eras Tour.
_______________________________________________________

We’ll see how close the data comes to our prediction with this linear model.

0 thoughts on “Let’s all get in on the Taylor Swift phenomenon!

  1. I love this idea, Nigel. A much more interesting problem for the students. Plus, they could more easily see real-world applications of the math. I'm sure Swift and her management would want to predict attendance of a world tour before booking venues and planning.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *