Five pages on measures of center and spread. Page 1 shows the mean as a fair share: students level towers of cubes by drawing them all the same height, then share apples, cups, marbles and stickers fairly by adding and dividing. Page 2 finds the mean of six real data sets, such as points scored and cans collected, and checks three means on line plots as balance points, where the distances below the mean add up to the distances above it. Page 3 puts data in order to find the median, the mode and the range, including a set with an even number of values and a set with no mode, then sorts statements into center or spread and names the measure. Page 4 finds the mean, median, mode and range from a line plot of books read, decides that the median best describes ages at a skate park when one age is far from the rest, and finds the mode and range of race times in hundredths of a second and pencil lengths in quarter inches. Page 5 makes a stem-and-leaf plot of tomato plant heights with a title, the leaves in order and a key, then reads a plot of test scores: the count, lowest, highest, range, mode, median and two-step questions.
Hand each group three or four towers of snap cubes of different heights and ask them to make the towers fair without adding or taking away cubes. Record the height they all reach and show that adding the cubes and dividing by the number of towers gives the same number. Before page 4, write the ages 9, 10, 11, 12 and 33 on the board and ask which number tells how old most of the group is.
Track something for a week, like minutes of reading or the high temperature each day. Ask your child to find the mean, the median and the range, and talk about which one says the most about a typical day.
This pack supports the following Common Core State Standards for Mathematics:
© Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.
A 5-page mean, median, mode and range pack for 5th grade. Level towers of cubes to see the mean as a fair share, then find the mean of real data by adding and dividing, and check it as the balance point of a line plot. Put data in order to find the median, the mode and the range, and tell whether a statement describes the center or the spread. Find all four from a line plot, choose the measure that best describes data with one value far from the rest, and find the mode and range of decimals and fractions. Make a stem-and-leaf plot with a title and a key, then read one. Every page comes in color and in black and white. Answer keys included.
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