How to Make a Histogram and Calculate the Bin Width (grades 6-7 math)

As a review of 6th grade statistics concepts, I show how to make a histogram using quiz scores as data. In a histogram, data is grouped into "bins". Before we can do that, we need to calculate the bin width. Simply find the range (maximum - minimum) and divide that by how many bins you'd like to have. A rough guideline for the number of bins is: take the square root of the number of data values you have. In this case, I have 20 data values, and square root of 20 is between 4 and 5, so 4-5 bins is reasonable.

I also discuss the central tendency (using mean) and the variability (using mean absolute deviation) of the data.

The 2nd part of this lesson (where we look at a box-and-whisker plot and more data analysis) is at    • How to Create a Boxplot (lesson for g...  

This lesson can be used in 6th grade (when students learn to make histograms) or in 7th grade (for review).

Learn more 6th grade math with Math Mammoth grade 6 curriculum at http://www.mathmammoth.com/complete/g... and 7th grade math with Math Mammoth grade 7 curriculum at http://www.mathmammoth.com/complete/g...