Mean, Median, Mode, and Range
The four ways to describe a data set, worked from one real dot plot: how to add-and-divide for the mean, order-and-find-the-middle for the median, spot the most frequent value for the mode, and subtract for the range.
Mean: 7
Add them all (56), divide by how many there are (8).
Median: 7.5
Put the values in order and find the middle one.
Mode: 8
The value (or values) that shows up most often.
Range: 5
The biggest value (9) minus the smallest (4).
How to use this chart
- Build the dot plot together from a class survey first (favorite color count, minutes of reading, anything countable), then work through all four statistics on that real data.
- Say the four words in the same order every time, mean, median, mode, range, so students build a routine rather than reaching for a formula sheet.
- Remind students the median needs the data sorted first; the single most common student error is finding the middle of an unsorted list.