Exercises: Measures of Center and Variation

Use what you know about center and variation to describe data sets.

Grade 6·18 problems·~20 min·Common Core Math - Grade 6·standard·6-sp-a-3

Work through problems with immediate feedback

Fluency Practice

Use the definitions of center and variation to analyze data sets.

$Two data sets plotted on number lines. Both have a mean of 7, but Set A clusters tightly around 7 while Set B is widely spread.$

Both data sets {3, 5, 7, 9, 11} and {1, 2, 7, 12, 13} have the same mean (7). What does this show about using mean alone to describe data?

The mean is all we need — both sets are identical.

The mean captures the typical value but hides the variation — we also need a measure of variation.

A higher mean would tell us more about the data.

The mean is never useful for comparing data sets.