L.O. To calculate the mean, mode, range and median of a set of numbers.

13, 7, 21, 3, 16, 8, 29, 1, 16, 10, 19

The numbers above are the number of hours eleven children spent on home learning in the past week. The average number of hours changes depending on the different strategies used to work it out.

1. Mode - The number that comes up most often. In this set of numbers, that would be 16, as it is the only number that appears twice. If more than one number appears the most times, then they are both the mode. This is called multi-mode.

2.Mean - To work out the mean you add all of the numbers together and divide the answer by how many numbers there are. So  13 + 7 + 21 + 3 + 16 + 8 + 29 + 1 + 16 + 10 + 19 = 143. 143 divided by 11 = 13 hours.

3. Range - The range is the highest number subtracted by the lowest number. In this set of numbers the highest number is 29 and the lowest number is 1, so the range would be 29 - 1 = 28.

4. Median - To find the median, you need to order the numbers from lowest to highest. Then you need to find the middle number. The middle of eleven numbers would be the sixth number. 1, 3, 7, 8, 10, 13, 16, 16, 19, 21, 29. The median here is 13. If you have an even set of numbers, you need to add the two middle numbers together and divide by 2. 

Activity

Choose one of the following:

Complete the attached worksheet 

Write a list of things you could work out the mean of and complete one

Take a bag of skittles of coloured beads. Think of ways you could use these to work out averages.

Watch the attached video which helps you the mode, mean, median, range rules stick in your head. Think of a song or rhyme of your own to help you remember.