The data below are the gestation periods, in months, of randomly selected animals and their corresponding lifespans, in years.

Figure 1. Gestation data.

Given:

1. If you want to predict the lifespan of an animal with a certain length of gestation period, which variable will be the response variable and which one will be the explanatory variable?
2. Compute the correlation coefficient between the gestation period and the lifespan. Interpret the value.
3. At = 0.05, can you conclude that there is a significant correlation between the two variables? (Hint: Show the key steps of test of Hypothesis.)
4. Compute the coefficient of determination r². Interpret the value.
5. Is it gestation period alone that determines lifespan? Are there other factors that need to be considered? Justify your answer.
6. Use the method of least squares, compute the linear regression equation that will help you predict the lifespan from the gestation period.
7. Interpret the slope of the regression equation with reference to context.
8. Predict the lifespan of a moose, which has an 8-month gestation period. Also, compute the residual for this lifespan.