Worksheet directions

Grade 6 • Independent Practice • Work on your own. Show your calculations or reasoning where needed.

Sample questions

1. A report describes a class dataset using only the mean 8. Explain why a measure such as IQR or MAD and a description of shape would improve the report. Use two possible datasets with mean 8 as examples.
2. Datasets A = [12, 13, 13, 14] and B = [9, 13, 13, 17] have the same mean. Compute each MAD and explain which varies more.
3. Compute the mean and MAD for [10, 14, 14, 18]. Show the four distances from the mean and explain why signed differences cannot be averaged for this purpose.
4. Compute the mean and MAD for [6, 10, 10, 14]. Show the four distances from the mean and explain why signed differences cannot be averaged for this purpose.
5. Group A has values 4, 5, 5, 6. Group B has values 1, 5, 5, 9. Both have mean 5. Compare their MADs and describe the difference in variability.
6. Trip times are [9, 10, 10, 11, 11, 12, 12, 13, 31] minutes. Find the mean and median. Which center and spread measures would you report for typical trips here: mean with MAD, or median with IQR? Explain using the unusual trip.

See the preview for diagrams, answer spaces, and the complete layout.

Common Core connections

Source labels: 6.SP.B.5d, 6.SP.A.2–3, 6.SP.B.5, 6.SP.B.5c,d. Review the learning goals below to check the fit for your class.

• 6.SP.B.5 — Summarize numerical data sets
• 6.SP.A.2 — Describe a distribution
• 6.SP.A.3 — Measures of center and variation

Bring it into your lesson

Review the preview and question content above. Open the resource in Sparkclass to copy it to your Files and use it in your workspace. Check the resulting layout before sharing it with students.