Which average fits: mean, median or range?
Grade 7 Math Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer, or write your answer on the line.
Ari recorded minutes to solve a puzzle for seven students. One student was far from the rest (the puzzle fought back). Which center fits the typical time better?
- The median, because the far dot pulls the mean away from most dots.
- The range, because it shows how big the typical dot is.
- The mean, because it uses every dot.
- Either one, because the mean and the median are both centers of the data
Bo recorded cans brought to a food drive for seven families. One family was far from the rest (one box needed two people). Which center fits the typical number of cans better?
A dot plot of cans brought to a food drive on one number line from 14 to 42, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one family. Dots: 16, 17, 18, 18, 18, 20, 40. The far dot, 40, is circled. The mean is 21. The median is 18. A dot plot of cans brought to a food drive on one number line from 14 to 42, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one family. Dots: 16, 17, 18, 18, 18, 20, 40. The far dot, 40, is circled. The mean is 21. The median is 18. Cans brought to a food drive 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 Each dot is one family. The far dot, 40, is circled. The mean is 21. The median is 18. - Either one, because the mean and the median are both centers.
- The range, because it shows how big the typical dot is.
- The median, because the far dot pulls the mean away from most dots.
- The mean, because it uses every dot, and the far dot should count as well
Kira recorded leaves collected for seven students (the leaves crunched). One student was far from the rest. How much lower is the mean without the far dot?
A dot plot of leaves collected on one number line from 9 to 37, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one student. Dots: 11, 12, 13, 16, 16, 16, 35. The far dot, 35, is circled. All 7 dots add up to 119. Without the far dot, the other 6 dots add up to 84. A dot plot of leaves collected on one number line from 9 to 37, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one student. Dots: 11, 12, 13, 16, 16, 16, 35. The far dot, 35, is circled. All 7 dots add up to 119. Without the far dot, the other 6 dots add up to 84. Leaves collected 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 Each dot is one student. The far dot, 35, is circled. All 7 dots add up to 119. Without the far dot, the other 6 dots add up to 84. Luz recorded minutes on the bus for seven riders (the bus hummed along). One rider was far from the rest. How much lower is the mean without the far dot?
A dot plot of minutes on the bus on one number line from 16 to 37, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one rider. Dots: 18, 19, 21, 22, 22, 24, 35. The far dot, 35, is circled. All 7 dots add up to 161. Without the far dot, the other 6 dots add up to 126. A dot plot of minutes on the bus on one number line from 16 to 37, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one rider. Dots: 18, 19, 21, 22, 22, 24, 35. The far dot, 35, is circled. All 7 dots add up to 161. Without the far dot, the other 6 dots add up to 126. Minutes on the bus 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 Each dot is one rider. The far dot, 35, is circled. All 7 dots add up to 161. Without the far dot, the other 6 dots add up to 126. Milo recorded minutes of reading at lunch for eight students (one book had a cat on the cover). One student was far from the rest. How much lower is the mean without the far dot?
A dot plot of minutes of reading at lunch on one number line from 10 to 32, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one student. Dots: 12, 13, 13, 14, 14, 15, 17, 30. The far dot, 30, is circled. All 8 dots add up to 128. Without the far dot, the other 7 dots add up to 98. A dot plot of minutes of reading at lunch on one number line from 10 to 32, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one student. Dots: 12, 13, 13, 14, 14, 15, 17, 30. The far dot, 30, is circled. All 8 dots add up to 128. Without the far dot, the other 7 dots add up to 98. Minutes of reading at lunch 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 Each dot is one student. The far dot, 30, is circled. All 8 dots add up to 128. Without the far dot, the other 7 dots add up to 98. Noah recorded cookies baked for a sale for seven bakers (the cookies smelled great). One baker was far from the rest. How much lower is the mean without the far dot?
A dot plot of cookies baked for a sale on one number line from 11 to 30, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one baker. Dots: 13, 13, 14, 14, 15, 15, 28. The far dot, 28, is circled. All 7 dots add up to 112. Without the far dot, the other 6 dots add up to 84. A dot plot of cookies baked for a sale on one number line from 11 to 30, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one baker. Dots: 13, 13, 14, 14, 15, 15, 28. The far dot, 28, is circled. All 7 dots add up to 112. Without the far dot, the other 6 dots add up to 84. Cookies baked for a sale 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Each dot is one baker. The far dot, 28, is circled. All 7 dots add up to 112. Without the far dot, the other 6 dots add up to 84. Pia recorded apples picked for seven pickers (one ladder wobbled). One picker was far from the rest. How much greater is the mean than the median?
A dot plot of apples picked on one number line from 8 to 38, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one picker. Dots: 10, 10, 11, 12, 13, 13, 36. The far dot, 36, is circled. The middle dot, 12, is circled too. All 7 dots add up to 105. A dot plot of apples picked on one number line from 8 to 38, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one picker. Dots: 10, 10, 11, 12, 13, 13, 36. The far dot, 36, is circled. The middle dot, 12, is circled too. All 7 dots add up to 105. Apples picked 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 Each dot is one picker. The far dot, 36, is circled. The middle dot, 12, is circled too. All 7 dots add up to 105. Ren recorded minutes of piano practice for seven students (the metronome kept the beat). One student was far from the rest. How much greater is the mean than the median?
A dot plot of minutes of piano practice on one number line from 16 to 40, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one student. Dots: 18, 20, 21, 21, 21, 22, 38. The far dot, 38, is circled. The middle dot, 21, is circled too. All 7 dots add up to 161. A dot plot of minutes of piano practice on one number line from 16 to 40, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one student. Dots: 18, 20, 21, 21, 21, 22, 38. The far dot, 38, is circled. The middle dot, 21, is circled too. All 7 dots add up to 161. Minutes of piano practice 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 Each dot is one student. The far dot, 38, is circled. The middle dot, 21, is circled too. All 7 dots add up to 161. Tala recorded minutes of bike riding after school for seven riders (the bells rang). One rider was far from the rest. How much greater is the mean than the median?
A dot plot of minutes of bike riding after school on one number line from 6 to 33, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one rider. Dots: 8, 10, 10, 10, 11, 11, 31. The far dot, 31, is circled. The middle dot, 10, is circled too. All 7 dots add up to 91. A dot plot of minutes of bike riding after school on one number line from 6 to 33, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one rider. Dots: 8, 10, 10, 10, 11, 11, 31. The far dot, 31, is circled. The middle dot, 10, is circled too. All 7 dots add up to 91. Minutes of bike riding after school 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 Each dot is one rider. The far dot, 31, is circled. The middle dot, 10, is circled too. All 7 dots add up to 91. Ari recorded shells collected on the beach for seven students. One student was far from the rest (one pail overflowed). Which center fits the typical number of shells better?
A dot plot of shells collected on the beach on one number line from 6 to 35, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one student. Dots: 8, 10, 10, 11, 13, 13, 33. The far dot, 33, is circled. A dot plot of shells collected on the beach on one number line from 6 to 35, a tick at every whole number. Each dot is one student. Dots: 8, 10, 10, 11, 13, 13, 33. The far dot, 33, is circled. Shells collected on the beach 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 Each dot is one student. The far dot, 33, is circled. - The range, because it shows how big the typical dot is.
- The mean, because it uses every dot.
- Either one, because the mean and the median are both centers.
- The median, because the far dot pulls the mean away from most dots.