Describing Distributions on Histograms
Warmup
Study the following histograms and state whether each appears symmetrical or not. Try to guess the answer before you click to turn the card. Then click the forward arrow to continue.
Activity #1
Illustrations with Histograms
- Use the following data to draw a histogram that shows travel times for 40 six-grade students. The orange points are the histogram bar handles.
(1.) Describe the distribution of travel times.
(2.) Comment on the center and spread of the data, as well as the shape and features.
Activity #2
Create your own Histogram.
- Use one of these suggestions or make up your own research data to create a histogram. Then, describe the distribution.
- Heights of 30 athletes from multiple sports.
- Heights of 30 athletes from the same sport.
- High temperatures for each day of the last month in a city you would like to visit.
- Prices for all the menu items at a local restaurant.
Activity #3
Explore Features of a Distribution.
- Read the information below carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Decide if each data set below might produce one or more gaps when represented by a histogram. For each data set that you think might produce gaps, briefly describe or give an example of how the values in the data set might do so.
(1.) The ages of students in a sixth-grade class.
(2.) The ages of people in an elementary school.
(3.) The ages of people eating in a family restaurant.
(4.) The ages of people who watch football.
(5.) The ages of runners in a marathon.
Challenge #1
Each histogram below represents the number of star ratings for a different restaurant. The ratings range from 0–4, with 0 representing a very poor experience and 4 representing an excellent experience. For each question, explain your reasoning.
(1.) Which restaurant do reviewers like the most?
(2.) Which restaurant do reviewers like the least?
(3.) Which restaurant received mostly mixed reviews?
(4.) Which restaurant would you choose to try?
Challenge #2
The histogram summarizes the data on the body lengths of 143 wild bears. Describe the distribution of body lengths. Be sure to comment on shape, center, and spread.
Which data set is more likely to produce a histogram with a symmetric distribution? Explain your reasoning.
- Data on the number of seconds on a track of music in a pop album.
- Data on the number of seconds spent talking on the phone yesterday by everyone in the school.
Quiz Time