Mean, Median, Mode and Range: Reading Time Survey

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Mathematics · Math 6-7
SP-MATH68-010 · Free to print and use in your classroom · substituteplans.com
Page 2
Mean, Median, Mode and Range: Reading Time
Survey
Mathematics · Math 6-7 · Grades 6-7 · 50 minutes
Time needed
50 minutes (one class period)
Prep
Copy the 2-page worksheet (one per student). Write the four definitions on the board.
Technology
None. Calculators are optional for the mean.
Student
independence
High. Students work alone, then compare with a partner.
Copies to make
One 2-page worksheet per student
Materials
Pencils, Worksheet, Whiteboard or chalkboard
Goal for today: Students will make a frequency table from raw data, calculate the mean, median, mode and range,
and explain how an unusually large value affects each measure.
Before the bell
☐ Copy the worksheet, one per student (2 pages).
☐ Write on the board: “Mean = add all values, divide by how many. Median = middle value when in order (if
two middles, find their average). Mode = most common value. Range = greatest minus least.”
☐ Keep the answer key on your desk. You do not need to solve anything yourself.
Say this to start
Good morning! Today you will work with data, like a class survey. You will find the mean, median, mode and range,
which are four ways to describe a set of numbers. The definitions are on the board. Work on your own first. Then we
will check answers and talk about which measure to use.

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Mathematics · Math 6-7
SP-MATH68-010 · Free to print and use in your classroom · substituteplans.com
Page 3
Run of show
Minutes
What you do
What students do
0–5
Take attendance the way the school requires. Hand out the
worksheet face down and ask students to wait.
Settle in, take out a pencil, and wait for
directions.
5–12
Read the four definitions on the board aloud. Work one
example: 2, 4, 4, 6, 9. Mean is 25 ÷ 5 = 5. Median is 4.
Mode is 4. Range is 9 − 2 = 7.
Follow along. Copy the example in the
margin if they like.
12–22
Tell students to complete the frequency table for the
reading data.
Count how many students read each
number of minutes and fill in the table.
22–36
Tell students to complete questions 1–8. Walk the room. If
a student is stuck, ask, “Did you put the numbers in order
first?”
Solve each problem and show the work.
36–45
Tell students to complete the Error Detective table and
questions 9–11. Then read the answers for questions 1–8
aloud from the key.
Fix the sample mistakes, answer the
thinking questions and check their work.
45–50
Remind students to finish question 11 (the last line). Then
collect all worksheets.
Write one sentence for question 11. Hand
in the worksheet.
If things go wrong
• If students say, “We have not learned this,” tell them it is practice and the example on the board shows every
step. Pair them with a neighbor who is comfortable.
• If a student finds the median without putting the numbers in order, remind them: “Always list the values from
least to greatest first.”
• If a student finishes in under 20 minutes, check that every median was found from an ordered list, then use
the early finisher list.
• If the class is noisy, remind them it is quiet individual work time.
Early finishers
• Collect your own data: ask three neighbors how many pets they have. Find the mean, median and mode of
the four numbers (including yours).
• Make up a data set of 5 numbers whose mean is 10 and median is 8.
Support and challenge
• Support: Let students rewrite the data in order and cross out numbers from both ends to find the median. Ask
them to complete the table and questions 1–3 and 5.
• Challenge: Ask students to explain how the mean, median and mode of the reading data would change if
every student read 5 minutes longer. (All three go up by 5.)

SubstitutePlans.com
Mathematics · Math 6-7
SP-MATH68-010 · Free to print and use in your classroom · substituteplans.com
Page 4
Notes for the teacher (you fill this in)
Jot a few lines before you leave. A full Daily Sub Report is in the free Sub Survival Kit at SubstitutePlans.com.
How far the class got / what to pick up next:
Students who were especially helpful:
Anything the teacher should know: