TITLE: Introductory Lesson on Mean/Median/Mode/Range

PURPOSE: The students will be able to solve mathematical problems when seeking the mean, median, mode, or range from a group of numbers.

ACTIVITIES: Students will each be given a basketball card. I will call on each student to tell us who their player is and how many points they averaged last season (located on the back of the card). Once everyone has shared they will be asked what averaged means (does it mean they scored that many points every single game). We will then discuss how to calculate the average (total number divided by the number of groups [games]. Explain the average is the MEAN.
Then we will discuss what information could we gain from looking at a player’s highest & lowest game. Finding the difference between the highest and lowest games gives you the RANGE.
Students will learn that another way to interpret the statistical data would be to look at every game and see which number (points) did the player score most often. Finding which number or numbers appear most often is called the MODE.
Finally students will learn that the MEDIAN is found when you line all the numbers in order from least to greatest and find the number directly in the middle.
As a class the students will take part in the interactive smart board lesson created for mean, median, mode, & range. They will be able to come up to the smart board to solve problems for each. Instead of having to write information out they will be able to move the numbers around when putting them in order to find the median. They also will be able to use the smart board markers to show their work when finding the mean.
At the end of the lesson the class will be polled on who their favorite basketball team is (NCAA, NBA, WNBA, or High School). The teacher will then go to the coordinating website and pull up that teams latest box score. Students will then use the information gained in the lesson to find the mean, median, mode, and range for their favorite basketball team.

MINNESOTA ACADEMIC STANDARDS ADDRESSED: Data & Analysis 5.4.1.1 (mean, median, mode, range)

TECHNOLOGY TOOLS: Smart Board, LCD projector, internet

SOFTWARE: Smart board notebook, Mozilla web browser