Skip to content
Skip to content
Teachers
Go to pupils
New
New

Checking understanding of summary statistics from a list

I can calculate the mean, median, mode and range from a list of data.

New
New

Checking understanding of summary statistics from a list

I can calculate the mean, median, mode and range from a list of data.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The mean, median and mode are measures of central tendency.
  2. The range is a measure of the spread of the data.
  3. Calculating these from a list is easy when the data set is small.

Keywords

  • A statistical summary - sums up the features of a data set. It may contain the average (mean, median and/or mode) which measures the central tendency. It may also contain the range which measures the spread.

Common misconception

Pupils may forget to order the data to support finding the median, mode and range.

Use small data (ordered and unordered) to find the range and the median based on position. Race to find range and median of a longer list with one "team" ordering first and the other team not. Ordering can help with speed, accuracy and give insight.

Remind pupils that each 'average' is trying to find a single value that describes a typical value in the data set. You may only wish to complete part of this lesson depending on the expected outcomes of your pupils.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

Skip lesson video

Loading...

Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
Starting with the smallest, put these numbers in ascending order.

1 - -5
2 - -2
3 - 0
4 - 3
5 - 6
6 - 8
7 - 12

Q2.
Starting with the smallest, put these decimals in ascending order.

1 - 2.004
2 - 2.04
3 - 2.041
4 - 2.4
5 - 2.401
6 - 2.41
7 - 2.414

Q3.
The sum is the total when numbers are together.

Correct Answer: added

Q4.
The sum of 23, 36 and 41 is .

Correct Answer: 100, one hundred, hundred

Q5.
The number that is exactly halfway between 23 and 30 is .

Correct Answer: 26.5, twenty six point 5, twenty six and a half

Q6.
8 is 9 away from 17 and also 9 away from .

Correct Answer: -1, negative one, minus 1

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these data sets has the greatest range?

Correct answer: 1, 5, 7, 6, 4, 8, 14, 6, 8, 9, 2
12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20
2.4, 5.4, 6.2, 7.3
143, 154, 142, 150, 149

Q2.
Who is correct about the median of this data set: 34, 27, 29, 41?

An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz

Q3.
The mean for the data set 2.3, 5.6, 7.4, 3.6, 8.1 is .

Correct Answer: 5.4, 5 point 4

Q4.
Which of these data sets have a mean of 6?

Correct answer: 3, 5, 5, 7, 10
2, 4, 4, 6, 7
Correct answer: -3, -1, 5, 10, 19
1.4, 3.4, 7.2, 8.9, 8.9
3, 32, 32, 36, 36

Q5.
Match each number of values and mean to the correct total.

Correct Answer:8 values with a mean of 6,total of the values is 48

total of the values is 48

Correct Answer:6 values with a mean of 10,total of the values is 60

total of the values is 60

Correct Answer:4 values with a mean of 4,total of the values is 16

total of the values is 16

Correct Answer:18 values with a mean of 30,total of the values is 540

total of the values is 540

Q6.
Five suitcases on a trolley have a mean mass of 22 kg. Another suitcase of mass 28 kg is also placed on the trolley. The mean mass of the six suitcases on the trolley is kg per suitcase.

Correct Answer: 23, twenty three

Lesson appears in

UnitMaths / Comparisons of numerical summaries of data

Maths

Show Foundation unit
Show Higher unit