CCSS.Math.Content.6.SP.A.3
The standard
Recognize that a measure of center for a numerical data set summarizes all of its values with a single number, while a measure of variation describes how its values vary with a single number.
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics · Statistics and Probability
What this standard means
Students need to tell the difference between a number that describes the middle of a data set and a number that describes the spread. They should connect mean or median to “typical value,” and range or interquartile range to “how spread out the values are.”
Mastery looks like explaining both ideas with the same data set, not just calculating. Students can say which data set is more consistent and back it up with numbers. Common trouble spots are treating range as another average, ignoring outliers, and thinking two data sets with the same mean must look the same.
Ways to teach it
- Have students build two dot plots with linking cubes, same mean but different spread, then compare the shapes and ranges.
- Ask students to write: Which tells us more about consistency, the mean or the range, and why?
- Give two small data sets and ask students to find the mean, range, and one sentence comparing spread.
- Use basketball scores from two players and ask which player is more consistent based on center and variation.
Plan a lesson for CCSS.Math.Content.6.SP.A.3
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Related standards
- CCSS.Math.Content.6.SP.B.5d
Relating the choice of measures of center and variability to the shape of the data distribution and the context in which the data were gathered.
- CCSS.Math.Content.7.SP.B.4
Use measures of center and measures of variability for numerical data from random samples to draw informal comparative inferences about two populations.
- CCSS.Math.Content.7.SP.B.3
Informally assess the degree of visual overlap of two numerical data distributions with similar variabilities, measuring the difference between the centers by e...
- CCSS.Math.Content.6.SP.B.5c
Giving quantitative measures of center (median and/or mean) and variability (interquartile range and/or mean absolute deviation), as well as describing any over...