4 Averages

Getting started

1 Which pencil is in the middle?

2 Write these sets of numbers in order from smallest to greatest.

a 3, 7, 9, 4, 1, 5, 8
b 14, 401, 114, 414, 41, 144, 104
3 Imagine you take a piece from this bag without looking.
Which shape are you most likely to take? Why?

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 4 Averages

Continued

4 Which number appears the most in this set?

24 25 27 29
21 20
24
22 25 23
23 20 27
25 23
21 21
27
27 26 25
26 23 25

You can use averages to help you understand data in real life. Averages
can tell you things like the most common score or height. Averages can
tell you about the most popular flavour. They can also help you work out
what thing is most likely to happen.
In this unit you will learn about two types of average called the mode and
the median.
These seed packets tell you the average height of the dark blue and
light yellow flowers.
Which packet do you think had which seeds in it?

3m

SEEDS
2m
SEEDS
Averag
e
height
1m 2m
Average
height 1 m

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 4.1 Mode and median

4.1 Mode and median

We are going to …

• learn about the mode of a set of data

• learn about the median of a set of data
• compare the mode and the median to find an average that
describes a set of data in context.

Averages can help you solve problems and make decisions.

When people give a film a score out of 10, all their scores can average
be put together to find an average score. median
Look at this film score: mode

The Fun Film Average score 6 out of 10.

Not everybody gave the film 6 out of 10.

Some people might have given a score or 1 out of 10, or 10 out of 10!
The average represents what many people think about the film when
their reviews are all put together. You can use the average score to help
you decide if you want to see the film.
Would you watch the film? Why?
In this section you will learn two ways to work out the average of a set
of data.

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 4 Averages

Exercise 4.1
1 What is the mode of these sets of numbers?
a 1, 1, 1, 2, 3
Tip
b 30, 29, 31, 29, 32
c 8, 9, 9, 8, 9, 8, 9 The value which occurs the most often
d 11, 11, 11, 13, 13, 13 is the mode. For example, here is a set
2 4 2 4 4 4
of animals: cat, cat, mouse, rabbit.
2 These are the number of bananas in ‘Cat’ occurs the most so ‘cat’ is the mode.
each bunch in a shop.
6  4  5  6  7  4  4  5  6  5  7  5
What is the mode of the number of bananas
in a bunch?

Worked example 1

What is the median of these heights?

133 cm, 137 cm, 134 cm, 131 cm, 132 cm

131 cm, 132 cm, 133 cm, 134 cm, 137 cm Write the heights in order from smallest
to greatest.
131 cm, 132 cm, 133 cm, 134 cm, 137 cm Cross through the first and last heights.
131 cm, 132 cm, 133 cm, 134 cm, 137 cm Keep crossing through the heights from
the two ends of the list until you reach
the middle.
Answer: The height in the middle is the median
The median is 133 cm. of the set of heights.

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 4.1 Mode and median

3 These sets of numbers are written in order.

Tip
Find the median of each set.
a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 The median is the middle
value in a sorted list of
b 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 9, 9, 10, 10
numbers.
c 253, 257, 270, 299, 308, 310, 324, 740, 751
4 These sets of numbers are not written in order. Find the median of each set.
a 3, 7, 1, 5, 9
b 13, 13, 11, 12, 14, 12, 14, 14, 11
c 535, 422, 278, 567, 453, 772, 329
5 What is the median mass of these bags?

670 g 855 g 1 kg 722 g 595 g 998 g 789 g

6 Find the mode and the median of each set of numbers.

Copy and complete this sentence for each set:
‘The mode is and the median is ’.
a 5, 6, 1, 2, 6 b 11, 12, 9, 11, 11, 12, 13
c 3, 5, 6, 2, 9, 3, 4, 3, 5 d 5, 2, 5, 6, 7, 2, 3, 2, 1

Think like a mathematician

What set of five numbers has a mode of 3 and a median of 3?

? ? ? ? ?

Write two more sets of numbers that have a mode of 3 and a median of 3.
Swap answers with your partner.
Check that your partner’s sets have a mode of 3 and a median of 3.
You will show you are specialising when you find sets of numbers that
satisfy the given criteria.

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 4 Averages

Copy and complete these sentences to explain how you check

that the mode and median is 3.
• I check that the mode is 3 by ...
• I check that the median is 3 by ...

7 A shop sells gloves in sizes 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Tip
In one day the shop sells these glove sizes:
1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 4, 4, 2, 4 Sometimes one type of average
is more useful than another
a What is the mode of the glove sizes sold? to solve a problem. Read the
b What is the median of the glove sizes sold? question carefully. Work out the
mode and the median. Think
c The shopkeeper wants to buy more gloves about which average best solves
to put in the shop, but the shopkeeper can the problem in the question.
only buy one size of gloves. Should the
shopkeeper use the mode or the median
to decide what size gloves to buy? Why?
8 This table shows the rainfall for the first 11 months of the year.
Use the table to work out the average amount of rain in a month.

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov
Rainfall (mm) 7 6 14 13 5 0 4 4 0 0 3
a What is the mode amount of rain?
b What is the median amount of rain?
c Do you think that the mode or the median best describes the
average monthly rainfall? Why?

Look what I can do!

I can find the mode of a set of data.

I can find the median of a set of data.
I can compare the mode and median to find an average that
describes a set of data in context.

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 4.1 Mode and median

Check your progress

1 What is the mode of these shoe prices?

$30 $19.99 $18.50

$18.50 $25.45

2 What is the median length of these ribbons?

5m 3m 4m 4m

2m 2m 1m

3 What is the mode and the median of these sets of numbers?

a 101, 102, 103, 103, 104, 105, 106, 106, 106
b 3, 7, 4, 9, 6, 7, 5, 1, 2
c 26, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 32, 32, 31, 29
d 2, 1, 2, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 2, 4

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 4 Averages

Continued

4 Lucas has been asked to report the average amount of money raised at an event.
These are the amounts of money:
$9  $7  $6  $5  $9
a What is the mode of the amounts?
b What is the median amount?
c Is it better to use the mode or the median to describe the average
amount of money raised? Why?
5 Maryam wants to use an average to work out what size tables are most
useful in her restaurant. She collects data about the size of groups of
people that eat in the restaurant. These are the sizes of the groups:
3  2  4  4  1  5  4  2  2  4  1
a Find the mode of the data.
b Find the median of the data.
c Is it better to use the mode or the median to decide what size tables
will be most useful? Why?

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