How strange is the weather this year, anyway? Can we explain the broad die-off of conifers across the Rocky Mountains? How about spending tax-payers' money to provide a hot breakfast to school kids in the morning? Is it “worth it”? The answers to these questions lie in our ability to understand data. Statistics is the tool we use to understand that data. The goal of this class will be to involve the student in exploring how Statistics is used to explain natural phenomena, promote public policy, and tell us things about the world that we can never know without it.