Virginia SOL 8.PS.2.d
The Standard
Organize and represent a numeric data set of no more than 20 items, using boxplots, with and without the use of technology.
Virginia Standards of Learning for Mathematics · The student will apply the data cycle (formulate questions; collect or acquire data; organize and represent data; and analyze data and communicate results) with a focus on boxplots.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students order numerical values and find the five-number summary. They use those values to draw a boxplot by hand and with a digital tool.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students accurately find the minimum, first quartile, median, third quartile, and maximum. They draw a boxplot on an even scale and can recreate it with a digital graphing tool.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may find quartiles before ordering the data or include the median in the wrong half when the count is odd. They may use uneven intervals on the number line. Some draw whiskers to the box edges instead of the minimum and maximum.
How to Assess It
- Give students the data set 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15. Ask them to find the five-number summary and draw a labeled boxplot.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Have students order 15 data cards, find the five-number summary, then build a boxplot with string on a floor number line.
Ask, “What does each section of this boxplot show, and which section has the greatest spread?” Students write two evidence-based sentences.
Play Boxplot Match: teams pair data sets, five-number summaries, and boxplots, then explain each match to earn a point.
Use class commute times to create a boxplot and discuss the median, middle half, overall range, and spread.
Free download
Printable 8.PS.2.d Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 8.PS.2.d, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetKeep exploring
Related Standards
- 6.PS.1.d
Organize and represent data using circle graphs, with and without the use of technology tools. The number of data values should be limited to allow for comparis...
- 8.PS.3.c
Organize and represent numeric bivariate data using scatterplots with and without the use of technology.
- 3.PS.1.d
Organize and represent a data set using bar graphs with a title and labeled axes, with and without the use of technology tools. Determine and use an appropriate...
- 7.PS.2.d
Organize and represent numerical data using histograms with and without the use of technology
Turn this exact standard into a lesson
Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.