What Does My Height Mean? By: Stefanie Del Rosso

Goals:

•The student will determine the mean, median, and mode of

data.

•The student will be able to analyze data and interpret data.

Objectives:

•Given a measuring tape and a blank height chart, the student

will be able to measure the heights of the students in the class

and record the data into a chart with 95% accuracy.

•Given the data of the height of students in the class, the

student will be able to calculate the mean, median, and mode,

with 85% accuracy.

Standards:

• Students will collect, organize, display, and analyze data

Collection of Data 6.S.1 Develop the concept of

sampling when collecting data from a

population and decide the

best method to collect data for a

particular question

Analysis of Data 6.S.5 Determine the mean, mode,

and median for a given set of data

Materials:

•Measuring tape

•Blank height chart

•Pencil

•Eraser

Prerequisites:

•Measuring

•Collection and Organization of Data

•Mathematical Computations (adding, subtracting, multiplication,

division)

Important Terms to Know:

•Mean: the average of a set of values

To calculate the mean:

1. Add up all your values

2. Divide the sum of all the values by how many values there are.

Example;Set of values are {7, 17, 12, 17, 2}

Add them up: 7 + 17 + 12 + 17 + 2 = 55

Divide 55 by the amount of values there are which is 5

11.0 5/ 55

11 is the mean of the set of values { 7,17, 12, 17, 2}

•Median: (a type of average) the middle value of an ordered set of values

To calculate the median:

1. Order your set of values from smallest to greatest

2. Find the middle value

Example;Set of values { 7, 17, 12, 17, 2}

Ordered set of values from least to greatest {2, 7, 12, 17, 17}

Find the middle value

2 7 12 17 17

The median of the set {2, 7, 12, 17, 17} is 12

What if the set has an even amount of values in it?Take the mean of the two middle values. For example, if your set was {2, 4, 6, 7} the middle two numbers are 4 and 6. Then find the mean by adding 4 + 6 = 10. Now divide by 2 which gives you 5. Therefore the median of the set { 2, 4, 6, 7} would be 5

•Mode: (a type of average) in a set of data, the mode is the value that occurs the most

To calculate the mode:

1. Find the frequency (amount of times it occurs) of each value in the set

Example;Set of values { 7, 17, 12, 17, 2}7 occurs once17 occurs twice12 occurs once2 occurs once

Therefore 17 is the mode of the set {7, 17, 12, 17, 2} because it is the most occurring value in the set.

•Data: a collection of facts, such as values or measurements.

Steps/Procedures of Hands on Experiment:

About the Experiment: calculate the mean, median, and mode

of the heights of the students in the class. To do so…

1. Divide students into groups of about 5

2. Have each group measure their heights and record their

heights into a data sheet.

3. Have students go back to their desks and share their data with

the class and teacher. The teacher (or one student per group) will

fill in the data chart on the board, and the students will record the

information on their chart.

4. Calculate the mean, median, and mode, for the class’ height.

5. Interpret data (what does this mean?)

-have students write out what each of these calculations mean

Student Name Height (in inches)

Lizzie 49

Javin 53

Ava 54

Valerie 55

Liam 58

Jayden 60

Charlotte 60

Rickey 60

Maya 62

Example;

Example Continued;

1. What is the mean of the class height in inches? Hint: to find the mean, add up all the heights and divide

by the total number of items you added together.

• Heights Data: 49, 53, 54, 55, 58, 60, 60, 60, 62• Add them together

49 + 53+ 54 + 55 + 58 + 60 + 60 + 60 +62 = • There are _______ total heights • Now take the sum of the heights and divide it by the total

number of heights ______9/ 511

9511

56 r 7

- 45 61 - 54 7

• What can we conclude from this?-The mean height of the class is about 57 inches

2. What is the mode of the class height?• Hint: to find the mode, ask yourself which height in the data

appears the most?• Let’s take another look at our data…

Heights Data: 49, 53, 54, 55, 58, 60, 60, 60, 62The height that appears the most is _________.What does this mean?60 inches is the most occurring height in the class.

3. What is the median of the class height?• Hint: to find the median, arrange your data from smallest to

greatest. Then look for the number in the middle. • Heights Data from smallest to greatest: 49, 53, 54, 55, 58, 60,

60, 60, 62• Now let’s find the middle height…

• 58 inches is the median• What does this mean?

This means that the middle height of the class is 58 inches.

60

49, 53, 54, 55, 58, 60, 60, 60, 62

What Can We Conclude?

After collecting and calculating the students height, we can conclude

that the mean height of the class is about 57 inches. We can

conclude that 60 inches is the mode of the class, and the median

height of the class is 58 inches.

How to connect this hands on experiment with other grade levels? What else can you teach from this experiment?

•Collection of Data

•Organizing Data

•Measuring

•Range

•Minimum and Maximum

•5 Number Summery

•Box and Whisker

•Frequency

•Stem and Leaf Graph

•Normal Distribution and Bell Curve

•Standard Deviation

Links to Websites:

•Maths Resources

•A Maths Dictionary

Citation:

•Eather , J. (2012). A maths dictionary for kids.Retrieved from http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/

•Maths fun. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.mathsisfun.com/

Student Name Height (in inches)

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