Mean, Median, Mode, etc.

Charlotte Goldwater            Kenwood Academy
                               5015 S. Blackstone
                                Chicago IL 60615
                               (312)535-1409

Objectives:

     The main objective of this mini-teach is to have students in grades four to 
twelve generate their own data and then analyze their information. 
     Some of the ideas that could be taught are:
           mean, mode, and median
           histogram
           bar graph
           probability
           circle graph

Materials Needed:

     A piece of ribbon or rope that is at least 20 inches long
     A package of post-its or a bunch of little squares of paper about 1.5"x1.5" 
       or 2" x 2"
     A roll of masking tape
     A classroom set of M&M candy bags
     A wall or blackboard
     A calculator

Strategy:

     Hold up a piece of rope or string.  Have the students write down the length 
of this rope or ribbon on their piece of paper.  Then have a number line on the 
board.  Have the students come up to the board and place their estimates on the 
board with their post-its on the number line. 
     Depending on the level of the students, you could teach or introduce an 
appropriate lesson on analyzing the data from a simple bar graph, quartiles, box 
and whiskers, outliers, to standard deviation. 
     This demonstration could also be done by guessing the number of M&M's in a 
cup.  The results would be similar.
     Lower grade students could do circle graphs of the contents of individual 
bags.

Performance Assessment:

     I can tell how much students have mastered these concepts through a 
discussion or a written evaluation.