An Environmentalist Wants to Determine the Relationship Between the Number

Essay

An environmentalist wants to determine the relationship between the number (in thousands) of forest fires over the year and the number (in hundreds of thousands) burned. The data for 8 recent years are shown.
a. Draw the scatter plot for the variables.
b. Give a brief explanation of the type of relationship.
$\begin{array} { c c } \text { Number of fires } x & \text { Number of acres burned } \\ 72 & 62 \\ 69 & 42 \\ 58 & 19 \\ 47 & 26 \\ 84 & 51 \\ 62 & 15 \\ 57 & 30 \\ 45 & 15 \end{array}$