Means (approx.

15 min)
INSTRUCTOR Ashayla Byrd

COURSE Students will analyze and interpret data in a line graph.

DESCRIPTION 5.16 The student will
a) describe mean, median, and mode as
measures of center;
b) describe mean as fair share;
c) find the mean, median, mode, and range of a
set of data; and
d) describe the range of a set of data as a
measure of variation.

ESSENTIAL I. What is a mean?

II. What is another way to say mean?
QUESTIONS III. What are the three main measures of center?
IV. How do you calculate a mean in a data set?

MATERIALS Workbook
Paper
Pencil
Calculator

Instructional Plan

1. Introduction
Ill begin by asking the students the first essential question regarding the
definition of a mean. The students will then give me their own working
definition of what a mean is. Note: They should include that the mean is a
fair share or average that divides the data equally.

Ask the following questions:

What is the very first step when you want to find the mean of a data set?
(Add all of the values to find the sum.)
What is the second step? (Divide the sum by the number of values in the
data set.)
What is the most important piece to add to the end of your calculated
answer? (Add units/context!)

2. Real-World Example
The students will use the following prompt find the mean value of the
data set.
Madison and Austin are trying to figure out the mean number, or

2017 SHSLW Instructional Plan

average height for the sunflowers they have just grown. The heights,
in inches, of the 8 plants are as follows: 8 in., 7 in., 6 in., 6 in., 5 in., 4
in., 8 in., and 4 in.
*The sum of these plants heights is 48 inches. After dividing the sum
by 8, the number of flowers in the data set, we calculate an answer
of 6 inches.

2017 SHSLW Instructional Plan