8.11.B
The Standard
determine the mean absolute deviation and use this quantity as a measure of the average distance data are from the mean using a data set of no more than 10 data points
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Mathematics
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students find the mean of up to 10 data values. They calculate each value's absolute distance from the mean, average those distances, and interpret the result.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students correctly find the mean, calculate each distance from the mean, and average those distances. They explain the result in context using the same units as the data.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may keep negative deviations, causing positive and negative values to cancel. They may divide by the wrong number, use the median, or confuse mean absolute deviation with range.
How to Assess It
- Give the data set 4, 6, 6, 8, 11. Ask students to find the mean absolute deviation and explain what it says about the data.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Have pairs arrange number cards, mark the mean on a number line, measure each distance, and average the distances.
Ask students to explain why absolute values are needed when finding the average distance from the mean.
Play a matching game with data sets, means, deviation lists, and mean absolute deviations printed on separate cards.
Compare daily temperatures from two weeks and use mean absolute deviation to decide which week had more consistent weather.
Keep exploring
Related Standards
- 6.12.B
use the graphical representation of numeric data to describe the center, spread, and shape of the data distribution
- 2.9.C
represent whole numbers as distances from any given location on a number line
- 6.13.B
distinguish between situations that yield data with and without variability
- 6.12.C
summarize numeric data with numerical summaries, including the mean and median (measures of center) and the range and interquartile range (IQR) (measures of spr...
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