Lesson 13: Mean, Median, Mode, and Range D. Legault, Minnesota

Lesson 13: Mean, Median, Mode, and Range

D. Legault, Minnesota Literacy Council, 2014

Mathematical Reasoning

LESSON 13: Mean, Median, Mode and Range

Lesson Summary: First, students will solve a problem about buying carpet. In Activity 1, they will do a vocabulary

matching activity. In Activity 2, they will do some examples and computation practice. In Activity 3, they will

solve word problems in the student book. In Activity 4, they will do problems in the workbook. Activity 5 is an

application about the Super Bowl. There is an exit ticket and extra problem. Estimated time for the lesson is two

hours.

Materials Needed for Lesson 13:

 Video (3 minutes): Central Tendency Video. It is required for teachers and optional for students.

 Activity 1 to print/project

 Handout 13.1 of definitions and examples (attached)

 Worksheet 13.2 on computation (attached)

 Mathematical Reasoning Test Preparation for the 2014 GED Test Student Book (pages 30-31)

 Mathematical Reasoning Test Preparation for the 2014 GED Test Workbook (pages 38-41)

 Worksheet 13.3 on Super Bowl for application activity (attached)

 Exit ticket (attached)

 Optional: decks of cards for Activity 2

Objectives: Students will be able to:

 Understand the definitions of measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode)

 Compute these measures

 Solve word problems about mean, median, mode, and range

 Solve real life problems of application

ACES Skills Addressed: N, CT, LS, and EC

CCRS Mathematical Practices Addressed: Use appropriate tools strategically, Math Fluency, Building Solution

Pathways, Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others

Levels of Knowing Math Addressed: Concrete, Abstract, Communication and Application

Notes:

You can add more examples if you feel students need them before they work. Any ideas that concretely

relates to their lives make good examples.

For more practice as a class, feel free to choose some of the easier problems from the worksheets to do

together. The “easier” problems are not necessarily at the beginning of each worksheet. Also, you may

decide to have students complete only part of the worksheets in class and assign the rest as homework or

extra practice.

The GED Math test is 115 minutes long and includes approximately 46 questions. The questions have a focus

on quantitative problem solving (45%) and algebraic problem solving (55%).

Students must be able to understand math concepts and apply them to new situations, use logical

reasoning to explain their answers, evaluate and further the reasoning of others, represent real world

Weekly Focus: central tendency

Weekly Skill: computation and

real application

Lesson 13: Mean, Median, Mode, and Range

D. Legault, Minnesota Literacy Council, 2014

Mathematical Reasoning

problems algebraically and visually, and manipulate and solve algebraic expressions.

This computer-based test includes questions that may be multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, choose from a

drop-down menu, or drag-and-drop the response from one place to another.

The purpose of the GED test is to provide students with the skills necessary to either further their education or

be ready for the demands of today’s careers.

Lesson 13 Warm-up: Solve the carpet question

Time: 10 Minutes

Write on the board: Ronda wants to buy carpet for her bedroom. She measures the length

at 10 feet and the width at 8 feet 6 inches. The carpet is sold in 12-foot-wide rolls.

Basic Question:

 What is the area of the bedroom?

o If students convert inches to decimals and just convert 6 inches to 0.6, ask them why

this doesn’t work. Because it’s 6/12, not 6/10, so they have to do equivalent fractions

first. Answer: 10 x 8.5 = 85 square feet.

Extension Questions:

 How many square feet should she buy knowing she’ll have to cut some off one side?

o Draw a picture on the board if needed for explanation of where the extra is. She will

buy12 x 8.5 = 102 square feet

 She can buy a clearance carpet at $0.89/square foot or she can buy carpet that’s regularly

sold at $1.29 a square foot but is now 20% off. Which is a better deal?

o Students may figure out the whole 102 square feet price for each. See if anyone

figures out the price for just one square foot, which will give us the information we

need. $1.29 x 0.8 = $1.03, so the clearance carpet is cheaper.

Lesson 13 Activity 1: Vocabulary

Time: 5 Minutes

This activity (below) can be projected on the board and done as a whole class. Have

students volunteer to write answers. (Answers: 1d, 2a, 3b, 4f, 5c and 6e)

Lesson 13: Mean, Median, Mode, and Range

D. Legault, Minnesota Literacy Council, 2014

Mathematical Reasoning

Lesson 13 Activity 2: M,M,M, and Range Computation

Time: 20-25 Minutes

1) Example A: Ask five students how many children they have, and write all the numbers on the

board. Now you can figure out together:

 Mean: Take all the numbers, add together, and divide by 5, the number of students surveyed.

That gives you the average.

 Mode: Are there two students who have the same number of children (could be zero)? If yes,

that’s the mode. If not, there is no mode.

 Median: Put all five numbers in a row from lowest to greatest. The one in the middle is the

median.

 Range: Take the difference of the greatest minus the lowest and that is the range.

2) Example B: Now ask another student so you have six total. Figure out the mean, the mode (if

there is one), and the range. What is the median? It’s halfway between the two middle

numbers. (If those are 2 and 3, the median in 2.5, for example)

3) Give students Handout 13.1 for more examples.

4) Do Worksheet 13.2 for practice. Do the first one together. An alternative to the worksheet is to

have groups of 3-4 students use a deck of cards. Together they pick 4-5 cards and compute

the M,M,M and range. Every group would have different answers so the teacher would need

to circulate to check.

5) Note to teacher: These terms are also known as the “measures of central tendency”. You

may want to mention this to students in case they see this term elsewhere.

Lesson 13 Activity 3: Word Problems

Time: 15 Minutes

Have students work independently in the student book pages 30-31. Circulate to help.

Review any questions that students found challenging. Choose a few problems to have

students volunteer to do on the board and explain if they like.

Lesson 13: Mean, Median, Mode, and Range

D. Legault, Minnesota Literacy Council, 2014

Mathematical Reasoning

Activity 1 Vocabulary Match

Vocabulary

Definition

1. mode

2. mean

3. median

4. range

5. minimum

6. maximum

A. the average

B. middle number

C. lowest number

D. most frequently occurring

number

E. highest number

F. difference between lowest

and highest numbers

Lesson 13: Mean, Median, Mode, and Range

D. Legault, Minnesota Literacy Council, 2014

Mathematical Reasoning

Handout 13.1

Lesson 13: Mean, Median, Mode, and Range

D. Legault, Minnesota Literacy Council, 2014

Mathematical Reasoning

Lesson 13: Mean, Median, Mode, and Range

D. Legault, Minnesota Literacy Council, 2014

Mathematical Reasoning

Worksheet 13.2—Computation

Lesson 13: Mean, Median, Mode, and Range

D. Legault, Minnesota Literacy Council, 2014

Mathematical Reasoning

Worksheet 13.2—Computation Answers

Lesson 13: Mean, Median, Mode, and Range

D. Legault, Minnesota Literacy Council, 2014

Mathematical Reasoning

Lesson 13 Activity 4: Word Problems

Time: 20-25 Minutes

Do the problems in the workbook pages 38-41. Do some of the challenging ones on the

board.

Lesson 13 Activity 5 Application: Super Bowl Stats

Time: 20-25 Minutes

Mean, median, and mode are used when comparing statistics in many areas in our society.

Ask students what areas these statistics are used in. They should have lots of ideas after doing

the workbook problems. Some are school, sports, weather, business, housing sales, and work

hours.

The following activity asks students to figure out the numbers for a popular American event,

the Super Bowl. Students may use their calculators to save time since the point is to

understand how to solve the problems. The activity is from the website yummymath.com.

Lesson 13 Exit Ticket

Time: 5 Minutes

This activity can be done as a class survey/discussion. Ask everyone how many TV sets they

have in their homes. Then figure out together the mean, median, mode, and range.

The numbers are small so it should happen quickly. If there isn’t much time, just ask a few

students.

Lesson 13 Extra Word Problem on Test Scores

Time: 5-10 Minutes

Write on the board:

Shonda met with her son’s English class teacher at parent conferences. The teacher

told Shonda that her son got 78, 89, 63, and 82 on his first four tests. There is one test left

and he needs to increase his average to 80% to get a B in the class.

Basic Questions:

 What is her son’s average in English class now? (78 + 89 + 63 + 82 divided by 4 = 312/4 = 78%)

 Is this the mean, the median, or the mode? (mean)

Lesson 13: Mean, Median, Mode, and Range

D. Legault, Minnesota Literacy Council, 2014

Mathematical Reasoning

Extension Question:

 By what percent does he need to increase his test scores? (2%)

 Does this mean he needs to get 80% on the last test? (No, 80% is the average of all 5 tests)

 What does he need to get on the last test to have an 80% average?

o This question is challenging, but see if the students can talk it through.

o (78 + 89 + 63 + 82 + x) ÷ 5 = 80

o 312 + x = 580

o x = 400 – 312 = 88% on the last test

Lesson 13: Mean, Median, Mode, and Range

D. Legault, Minnesota Literacy Council, 2014

Mathematical Reasoning

Worksheet 13.3—Super Bowl Activity

The Typical Super Bowl Score? Name_____________________________

How many points will be scored this Super Bowl? Round to the nearest hundredth when necessary.

To get a clearer idea lets look at the last twelve Super Bowl scores:

XLVII Feb. 3, 2013 Ravens 34, 49ers 31

XLVI Feb. 5, 2012 Giants 21, Patriots 17

XLV Feb. 6, 2011 Packers 31 Pittsburg 25

XLIV Feb. 7, 2010 Saints 31 Colts 17

XLIII Feb. 1, 2009 Pittsburgh 27 Arizona 23

XLII Feb. 3, 2008 New York 17, New England 14

XLI Feb. 4, 2007 Indianapolis 29, Chicago 17

XL Feb. 5, 2006 Pittsburgh 21, Seattle 10

XXXIX Feb. 6, 2005 New England 24, Philadelphia 21

XXXVIII Feb. 1, 2004 New England 32, Carolina 29

XXXVII Jan. 26, 2003 Tampa Bay 48, Oakland 21

XXXVI Feb. 3, 2002 New England 20, St. Louis 17

1. What is the mean score for the winning team in the Super Bowl? Make sure to show or explain your method.

2. What is the mean score for the losing team in the Super Bowl? Make sure to show or explain your method.

3. By using the mean of the winning and losing scores, what is the mean Super Bowl final score? By how many

points on average does the winning team beat the losing team by?

4. Find the median score of the winning teams in the Super Bowl. Make sure to show or explain your method.

5. Find the median score of the losing teams in the Super Bowl. Make sure to show or explain your method.

6. By using the median of the winning and losing scores, what is the median Super Bowl final score? Using the

median, by how many points on does the winning team beat the losing team by?

7. Now that you have used both the mean and median to explore the typical Super Bowl score, which statistic

seems to better represent the data? Why?

Lesson 13: Mean, Median, Mode, and Range

D. Legault, Minnesota Literacy Council, 2014

Mathematical Reasoning

Worksheet 13.3 [cont.]—Super Bowl Activity