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Lesson 1

1. Lesson 1

Mathematics 30-3 Module 4

Module 4: Statistics

 

Lesson 1: Mean, Median, and Mode

 
Focus

 

This is a photo of a group of participants in the Canadian Death Race.

Courtesy of and © Canadian Institute of Extreme Racing

(canadiandeathrace.com), a non-profit society.

The Canadian Death Race takes place yearly in Grande Cache, Alberta. The racers are allowed to compete alone or in groups of up to five. The race covers 125 km of mountain trails that include three mountain summits, which is 17 000 ft of elevation change. Runners from around the world compete, and many locals also join in the fun. The winning solo time for 2011 was 12:15:54 (12 hours, 15 minutes, and 54 seconds). Racers whose time exceeds 24 hours are disqualified.

 

Often when looking at a set of data, the highest or lowest value gets all the focus while the middle values are ignored. Does either the winning time or disqualification time represent a typical runner? Given a list of finishing times, how would you decide on a typical time that would represent a typical runner in the race? Could more than one time be considered typical?1

 

This illustration is an example of a vertical bar graph.

© Jacob Kjerumgaard/7600523/Fotolia

Lesson Outcomes

 

At the end of this lesson you will be able to

  • calculate the mean, median, and mode for a set of data
  • solve problems that involve measures of central tendency
Lesson Questions

 

You will investigate the following questions:

  • How can the average be determined given a set of data?
  • How can a set of data be represented with one number?
  • How can data be described in different ways?
Assessment

 

Your assessment may be based on a combination of the following tasks:

  • completion of the Lesson 1 Assignment (Download the Lesson 1 Assignment and save it in your course folder now.)
  • course folder submissions from Try This and Share activities
  • additions to Glossary Terms and Formula Sheet
  • work under Project Connection

Self-Check activities are for your own use. You can compare your answers to suggested answers to see if you are on track. If you have difficulty with concepts or calculations, contact your teacher.

 

Remember that the questions and activities you will encounter provide you with the practice and feedback you need to successfully complete this course. You should complete all questions and place your responses in your course folder. Your teacher may wish to view your work to check on your progress and to see if you need help.

 

Materials and Equipment

 

You will need

  • calculator

 

1 Canadian Death Race/Canadian Institute of Extreme Racing