Practice Set · Part 1
Represent and Describe Data in a Box Plot
Pick up where we left off
Where we left off
Our goal: I can make and read a box plot to summarize a data set, explain what each part stands for, and build one for a situation I have not seen before.
The big idea: The median and quartiles split ordered data into four parts with the same number of values, so the box always holds the middle half.
Model to copy — Example 1 · Even number of values
- Eight students sold 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14 and 18 tickets. Find the five numbers for a box plot.
- Find the median of the 8 values: (8 + 12) ÷ 2 = 10
- Split the data into two halves of 4: lower: 3, 5, 7, 8; upper: 12, 13, 14, 18
- Find Q1, the middle of the lower half: (5 + 7) ÷ 2 = 6
- Find Q3, the middle of the upper half: (13 + 14) ÷ 2 = 13.5
- Find the least and greatest values: 3 and 18
- Least 3, Q1 6, median 10, Q3 13.5, greatest 18.
- A box plot shows the scores of 24 students: least 12, Q1 18, median 24, Q3 30, greatest 40. About how many students scored from 18 to 30?
- Find the part that goes from 18 to 30: Q1 to Q3 → the box
- Find half of the 24 students: 24 ÷ 2 = 12
- About 12 students scored from 18 to 30.
Start here
You did these with your group. Now do them on your own — the model above is yours to copy.
- 1
Same stepsFinish what the group started. Use the model above, step for step.
Try it together — then prove it: Find the five numbers for a box plot of this data: 2, 5, 5, 8, 11. Find the median. (5, the 3rd value.) Find Q1 from 2 and 5, and Q3 from 8 and 11. (Q1 is 3.5 and Q3 is 9.5.) Find the least and greatest values. (2 and 11) Q1 is 3.5, but 3.5 is not in the data. Why is that allowed? (Q1 is the middle of 2 and 5. The middle of two values can fall between them.)Show your work - 2
Warm restartThe values 4, 6, 9, 12 and 19 are already in order. What is the median?
- A6
- B9
- C10
- D12
How do you know?
- 3
Warm restartOrder these values from least to greatest: 6, 13, 4, 9 and 3. What is the median?
- A4
- B6
- C7
- D13
How do you know?
- 4
Warm restartFind the median of 4, 8, 6, 10.
- A6
- B7
- C8
- D28
How do you know?
Practice Set · Part 2
Represent and Describe Data in a Box Plot
Keep going
You answered these out loud. Now write them.
Answer, then say how you know — the reason is the part that counts.
- 5
Think it throughWhat is Team A's IQR?
- A10
- B16
- C35
- D60
Why is that the answer?
- 6
Think it throughWhat is Team B's IQR?
- A10
- B16
- C45
- D61
How do you know? Give a second reason as well.
- 7
Think it throughIs the fan right that Team B is better because of the 80-point game?
- AYes — 80 is the highest score in the data
- BNo — Team A's maximum is higher
- CYes — the maximum always decides
- DNo — one high game is a single extreme value, not typical performance
Explain your thinking. What would have to change for a different choice to be right?
- 8
Back to the modelThe IQR is Q3 − Q1 = 26 − 10 = 16. What does this tell you about the middle 50% of scorers?
Practice Set · Part 3
Represent and Describe Data in a Box Plot
Words and reasoning
Word bank · Banco de palabras
Use the words
Fill each blank with a word from the bank.
- A graph that shows data with a box and whiskers based on the five-number summary is a ___.
- The middle value of the data, shown as a line inside the box, is the ___.
- A value that divides the data into four equal parts is a ___.
- The distance between the first and third quartiles, showing the middle 50% of data, is the ___.
Explain the thinking
- 9
Find the mistakeAnother student made this exact mistake in this lesson. Explain why it is wrong, then write what they should have done.
The mistake: A common mistake in Display Data: Box Plots is treating a quartile as just one data point instead of the median of a half — for the lower half 4, 8, 10, 14, some students pick 10 (the last value) as Q1 instead of finding the median of that half: Q1 = (8 + 10) ÷ 2 = 9. - 10
Say moreAs you draw the box from Q1 to Q3, what does the length of the box tell you about the players' scores?
- 11
Write your ownWrite your own problem about this situation, then solve it and show the answer. The situation: The table shows 25 sixth graders' times to finish a 5-kilometer road race.
Show your work
Practice Set · Part 4
Represent and Describe Data in a Box Plot
Show what you know
Last check
These two come from Lesson 2.3. If they are shaky, that is the lesson to revisit — not this one.
- 12
Show what you knowExplain your thinking — A box plot has Q1 = 20 and Q3 = 36. What is the IQR and what does it represent?
- AIQR = 16; it is the spread of the middle 50% of the data
- BIQR = 28; it is the median between Q1 and Q3
- CIQR = 36; it is the value of Q3
- DIQR = 56; it is the total of Q1 and Q3
Explain your choice.
- 13
From Lesson 2.3Explain your thinking — Data set: 4, 7, 10, 7, 12. What is the median, and what does it tell you?
- A7 — a typical value in this set is about 7
- B8 — it is the average of all five values
- C10 — it is the middle number as the list is written
- D12 — it is the largest value
How do you know?
- 14
From Lesson 2.3What is the median of the 10 scores?
- A86.6
- B87
- C88
- D92
How do you know?
Be honest — this tells your teacher what to do next
| I can… | Not yet | Getting there | Got it |
|---|---|---|---|
| I can make and read a box plot to summarize a data set, explain what each part stands for, and build one for a situation I have not seen before. | |||
| I can explain why it works: The median and quartiles split ordered data into four parts with the same number of values… | |||
| I can justify my answer to a skeptic and connect it to a second strategy or representation. |
One question I want to ask my group next time