Myths about teaching can hold you back
- Year 8
Checking understanding of the mean
I can understand what the mean is measuring, how it is measuring it and calculate the mean from data presented in a list.
- Year 8
Checking understanding of the mean
I can understand what the mean is measuring, how it is measuring it and calculate the mean from data presented in a list.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- The mean can be seen as a redistribution of values such that everything is the same.
- The mean is the sum of all values divided by the number of values.
- The mean is a measure of central tendency.
Keywords
Central tendency - a summary measure that attempts to describe a whole set of data with a single value that represents the middle of its distribution
Common misconception
Pupils may ignore a data point of zero in their calculation of the mean.
Data points of zero will not add to the total but does impact the number of values, so the mean will be incorrect with its omission.
To help you plan your year 8 maths lesson on: Checking understanding of the mean, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 8 maths lesson on: Checking understanding of the mean, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 maths lessons from the Numerical summaries of data unit, dive into the full secondary maths curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Licence
Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.The sum of 6, 8, 3, 5, and 7 is .
Q2.6 friends share 42 sweets equally. Each friend receives sweets.
Q3.Match each word with the correct operation.
product -
$$ \times $$
sum -
$$ + $$
share -
$$ \div $$
difference -
$$ - $$
Q4.Which of the following has an answer of 5?
Q5.Eight pupils each roll a dice seven times. There are rolls of the dice altogether.
Q6.There are 40 students that need to be sorted into equal groups. How many different group sizes could there be?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.The (arithmetic) mean for a set of numerical data is the sum of the values by the number of values. It is a measure of central tendency representing the average of the data.
Q2.Which of these towers of blocks have a mean of 4?




Q3.The mean for this data set: 5, 4, 7, 5, 8, 2, 9, 3, 5, 2 is
Q4.What is the mean of the data shown on this dot plot?

Q5.Match each total with the number of data values and mean.
Total = 240 -
12 data values, mean of 20
Total = 350 -
50 data values, mean of 7
Total = 150 -
15 data values, mean of 10
Total = 220 -
11 data values, mean of 20
Total = 180 -
30 data values, mean of 6