From: ---
To: Teacher2Teacher Service
Date: Nov 20, 2007 at 19:14:46
Subject: Mean, median, mode in grade 3

I am confused about the purpose of the median in a set of data.

What I know:
I know that mean is taking an average by adding up all #'s and / by the
numbers of data points.
I know that the median is the middle number of a set of data. I know if
there are 2 middle numbers you add then / by 2.
I know the mode is the most frequent repeated data.

Today I was using a graph where food and # of children were the only
criteria. 2 kids liked pizza, 4 hamburgers, 4 tacos and 5 liked Chinese
food.  We created a simple bar graph to show this.

The mode is Chinese food because 5 kids liked it the most.
Or is the mode the 5 kids?

Is there a median in this case?

My main concern is the purpose of a median or middle number?
What does it tell us about a set of data. Why do we need the middle number? I
need to bring it down to 3rd grade level. Please help.
How do I teach median so it makes sense?

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