Skip to content
Oak National Academy
Oak National Academy
Teachers
Pupils
icon-background-square
New
New
Year 8

Checking understanding of the mean

I can understand what the mean is measuring, how it is measuring it and calculate the mean from data presented in a list.

Download all resources
arrow-right
Share activities with pupils
arrow-right
icon-background-square
New
New
Year 8

Checking understanding of the mean

I can understand what the mean is measuring, how it is measuring it and calculate the mean from data presented in a list.

Download all resources
arrow-right
Share activities with pupils
arrow-right
warning

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.
View new resources
arrow-right

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The mean can be seen as a redistribution of values such that everything is the same.
  2. The mean is the sum of all values divided by the number of values.
  3. The mean is a measure of central tendency.

Keywords

  • Central tendency - a summary measure that attempts to describe a whole set of data with a single value that represents the middle of its distribution

Common misconception

Pupils may ignore a data point of zero in their calculation of the mean.

Data points of zero will not add to the total but does impact the number of values, so the mean will be incorrect with its omission.

With a group of students, you could give them all a random number of counters and then ask them to exchange them so that they have the same number each. Ask them to explain their methods.
speech-bubble
Teacher tip
copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on

Open Government Licence version 3.0
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

Skip lesson video

Loading...

Starter quiz

Download starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
The sum of 6, 8, 3, 5, and 7 is .
Correct Answer: 29
Q2.
6 friends share 42 sweets equally. Each friend receives sweets.
Correct Answer: 7
Q3.
Match each word with the correct operation.
Correct Answer:product,$$ \times $$
tick

$$ \times $$

Correct Answer:sum,$$ + $$
tick

$$ + $$

Correct Answer:share,$$ \div $$
tick

$$ \div $$

Correct Answer:difference,$$ - $$
tick

$$ - $$

Q4.
Which of the following has an answer of 5?
Correct answer: $$ {3 + 5 + 8 + 4} \over {4} $$
$$ {3 + 5 + 8 + 4} \div {4} $$
Correct answer: $$ (3 + 5 + 8 + 4) \div {4} $$
Q5.
Eight pupils each roll a dice seven times. There are rolls of the dice altogether.
Correct Answer: 56, 56 rolls, fifty six, fifty-six
Q6.
There are 40 students that need to be sorted into equal groups. How many different group sizes could there be?
Correct Answer: 8, eight

Exit quiz

Download exit quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
The (arithmetic) mean for a set of numerical data is the sum of the values by the number of values. It is a measure of central tendency representing the average of the data.
Correct Answer: divided
Q2.
Which of these towers of blocks have a mean of 4?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
Q3.
The mean for this data set: 5, 4, 7, 5, 8, 2, 9, 3, 5, 2 is
Correct Answer: 5, five
Q4.
What is the mean of the data shown on this dot plot?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: 4, four
Q5.
Match each total with the number of data values and mean.
Correct Answer:Total = 240,12 data values, mean of 20
tick

12 data values, mean of 20

Correct Answer:Total = 350,50 data values, mean of 7
tick

50 data values, mean of 7

Correct Answer:Total = 150,15 data values, mean of 10
tick

15 data values, mean of 10

Correct Answer:Total = 220,11 data values, mean of 20
tick

11 data values, mean of 20

Correct Answer:Total = 180,30 data values, mean of 6
tick

30 data values, mean of 6

Q6.
A large data set has 620 pieces of data and a total of 3906. The mean of the data set is .
Correct Answer: 6.3