Calculating the median

The  exercise appears under the 6th grade (U.S.) Math Mission. This exercise calculates the median of a data set.

Types of Problems
There is one type of problem in this exercise:


 * 1) Find the median of the data set: This problem has a collection of data and a command to find the center of the data set. The student is asked to calculate the median and write it in the space provided.Calthemed1.png

Strategies
Knowledge of statistical vocabulary and the ability to do basic statistical calculations are encouraged to ensure success on this exercise.
 * 1) The median is a common measure of center for a data set.
 * 2) The median is found by placing all the data points in numerical order and selecting the one in the middle.
 * 3) If there are two values in the middle, the mean of those two numbers is the median.
 * 4) The problems in this exercise will list the data as raw pieces of information or in a list, or in a chart.

Real-life Applications

 * 1) Data and statistics appear in news reports and in the media every day.
 * 2) Many of the problems in this exercise could be viewed as real-life applications.
 * 3) Statistics can be seen more frequently than calculus in every day life.
 * 4) The median is a very common measure of center useful for skewed data sets or sets with outliers.