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Box and Whisker Textbooks Sample

The document introduces box-and-whisker plots as a new way to display data. It explains that box-and-whisker plots divide data into quarters based on the median and quartiles. An example uses roller coaster height data to demonstrate how to construct a box-and-whisker plot. It also explains how to interpret key aspects of a box-and-whisker plot like the range and spread of the data.

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Thomas Atkinson
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186 views5 pages

Box and Whisker Textbooks Sample

The document introduces box-and-whisker plots as a new way to display data. It explains that box-and-whisker plots divide data into quarters based on the median and quartiles. An example uses roller coaster height data to demonstrate how to construct a box-and-whisker plot. It also explains how to interpret key aspects of a box-and-whisker plot like the range and spread of the data.

Uploaded by

Thomas Atkinson
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

Page 1 of 5

Box-and-Whisker Plots
BEFORE

Now

WHY?

You displayed data using bar


graphs and line graphs.

Youll display data using


box-and-whisker plots.

So you can compare heights of


redwood trees, as in Exs. 1415.

In the Real World

Word Watch
box-and-whisker plot, p. 123
lower quartile, p. 123
upper quartile, p. 123
lower extreme, p. 123
upper extreme, p. 123

Roller Coasters The heights, in feet, of suspended roller coasters in the


United States are given below. How can the data be displayed so that it is
divided into quarters?
35 42 42.5 60 60 70 76 78 81 100
A box-and-whisker plot is a data display that divides data values into
four parts. Ordered data are divided into a lower and an upper half by the
median. The median of the lower half is the lower quartile . The median
of the upper half is the upper quartile . The lower extreme is the least
data value. The upper extreme is the greatest data value.

EXAMPLE

with

Solving

Making a Box-and-Whisker Plot

To make a box-and-whisker plot of the roller coaster heights given


above, first find the median. Then find the lower and upper quartiles.
60  70
Median    65
2

If a data set has an odd


number of values, the
median value is not included
in either the lower half or
the upper half.

Lower half
35

42

42.5

Upper half
60

60

70

Lower quartile  42.5

76

78

81

100

Upper quartile  78

Plot the lower extreme, lower quartile, median, upper quartile, and
upper extreme using a number line.
30

40

35

50

42.5

60

70

65

80

78

Draw a box from the lower


quartile to the upper quartile.
Then draw a vertical line
through the median.

90

100

110

100

Draw a horizontal line


from the box to each
of the extremes.

Lesson 3.4

Box-and-Whisker Plots

123

Page 2 of 5

with

Notetaking

Interpreting a Box-and-Whisker Plot A box-and-whisker plot


helps to show how varied, or spread out, the data are.
The large box represents about half of
the data. Each small box represents
about one quarter of the data.

As you go through the


lesson, remember to make
labeled diagrams to help
you understand key terms.

Each whisker represents about


one quarter of the data.

EXAMPLE

Interpreting a Box-and-Whisker Plot

Watches The prices of the watches at a store are displayed in the


box-and-whisker plot below.
10

30

16

31

50

45

70

90

71

110

130

120

a. If all of the watches under $31 are on clearance, then about what
fraction of the watches are on clearance?
b. If all of the watches from $31 to $71 are on sale, then about what
fraction of the watches are on sale?
Solution

a. The watches less than $31 are about the same as the number in one
of the whiskers, which represents about one quarter of the watches.
b. The watches between $31 and $71 are about the same as the
number in the large box of the plot, which represents about half of
the watches.

Your turn now

Complete the following exercises.

1. A movie theater recorded the number of tickets sold for each

showing of a movie during its opening weekend. Make a box-andwhisker plot of the ticket data listed below.
497 429 746 469 504 464 326 302 509 467 401 499
2. Use the box-and-whisker plot from Exercise 1 to make a conclusion

about the data.


3. In Example 2, is the number of watches between $71 and $120

greater than the number of watches between $16 and $31?

124

Chapter 3

Data and Statistics

Page 3 of 5

EXAMPLE

Comparing Box-and-Whisker Plots

Football The box-and-whisker plots below represent the number


of points scored in each game of the 20012002 season for the
New England Patriots and the St. Louis Rams. What conclusions can
you make about the data?
0

10

20

30

40

50
New England
Patriots

17 20.5

31.5

44
St. Louis
Rams

15

25.5

32.5 36.5

48

Solution
In general, the Rams scored more points per game than the Patriots.
There is more variability in the points scored by the Patriots than by the
Rams, with the range for the Patriots being 44  3  41 and the range for
the Rams being 48  15  33.

INTERNET

Exercises

eWorkbook Plus
CLASSZONE.COM

More Practice, p. 707

Getting Ready to Practice


Vocabulary In Exercises 14, tell whether the statement about
the box-and-whisker plot is true or false.
40

43

50

60

70

58

80

82

90

100

93

110

120

117

1. The upper extreme is 93.

2. The median is 82.

3. The lower quartile is 58.

4. The upper quartile is 117.

5. DVD Rentals The number of DVDs rented each day over two weeks at

a video rental store are given. Make a box-and-whisker plot of the data.
38 42 50 65 82 91 88 40 34 41 71 93 87 94
6. Writing Use the box-and-whisker plot from Exercise 5 to make a

conclusion about the data.


Lesson 3.4

Box-and-Whisker Plots

125

Page 4 of 5

Practice and Problem Solving


with
Example
1
2
3

Homework

7. Choose the set of data that is displayed

in the box-and-whisker plot.

Exercises
710, 14, 17
1112
13, 18

10

20

30

40

11

20

29

39

A. 1, 30, 39, 12, 13, 20, 11, 22, 29


B. 12, 28, 13, 10, 1, 39, 30, 20, 22
Make a box-and-whisker plot of the data.

Online Resources
CLASSZONE.COM

8. Hourly rates of pay: 8.75, 7.50, 9, 8, 6.50, 8, 6.50, 7, 6, 7, 6.25

More Examples
eTutorial Plus

9. Pages per chapter in a book: 21, 25, 20, 14, 15, 19, 14, 14, 10, 25
10. Ages of roller rink employees: 24, 22, 30, 18, 29, 38, 33, 17, 22, 25, 16, 41

Fuel Economy The box-and-whisker plots show the average miles per
gallon of gasoline used in city driving for 2002 models of small cars
and sport utility vehicles.
10

20

30

40

50

60

Small cars
19

23 25

29

61

Sport utility vehicles

Science
10

14 16 19

25

11. Compare the number of small cars that get less than 25 miles per

gallon with those that get more than 25 miles per gallon.
12. About what fraction of the sport utility vehicles get less than 14 miles

per gallon?
13. Writing Make a conclusion comparing the two groups of vehicles.

Trees In Exercises 14 and 15, use the heights, to the nearest foot, of
coastal redwood trees known to be over 340 feet tall listed below.
359, 361, 363, 358, 368, 361, 366, 360, 358, 359, 358, 366, 363, 364, 358, 363
14. Make a box-and-whisker plot of the data.
15. Suppose the tallest tree is struck by lightning and its height is reduced

Redwood Trees
Suppose the arch in a
redwood tree is 2.1 meters
high. Can a truck that is
260 centimeters tall pass
through the arch?

126

Chapter 3

to 352 feet. Make a box-and-whisker plot for the new data. How does
this plot differ from the one that you made in Exercise 14?
16. Critical Thinking Suppose you have to make a box-and-whisker plot

for an unordered data set with 50 values. Explain how a stem-and-leaf


plot of the data can help you make the box-and-whisker plot.

Data and Statistics

Page 5 of 5

Golf The distances, in yards, that Julia


and Ty hit 14 golf balls at a driving range
are listed below.
Julia: 116, 147, 167, 157, 88, 130, 155, 161, 118, 144, 220, 213, 222, 52
Ty: 62, 129, 103, 217, 230, 160, 151, 63, 133, 203, 159, 142, 185, 201
17. Using the same number line, make a box-and-whisker plot for

each person.
18. Interpret Make a conclusion about the data.

Challenge Tell whether the statement is always, sometimes, or


never true.
19. When a data set has 13 items, the lower quartile is one of the items.
20. Exactly half of the items in a data set are greater than the median.
21. The upper extreme and the upper quartile are not the same number.

Mixed Review
Write the number in scientific notation. (Lesson 2.5)
22. 25,500,000

23. 700,000,000

24. 9999

25. 326,700

26. Make a stem-and-leaf plot of the data listed below. (Lesson 3.3)

6.6, 6.4, 4.1, 5.5, 5, 4.2, 8.1, 6.8, 8.5, 4.2, 9.5, 8.7, 5.3, 4.2

Basic Skills Use a number line to order the numbers from least
to greatest.
27. 14, 9, 10, 1, 7, 13, 3

28. 27, 32, 22, 25, 36, 29, 39

Test-Taking Practice
INTERNET

State Test Practice


CLASSZONE.COM

29. Multiple Choice The box-and-whisker

plot shows the heights, in feet, of waves at


a beach during one day. What is the lower
quartile?

A. 5

B. 7

C. 9.5

D. 11

10

9.5 11

15

13.5

30. Multiple Choice Which statement about the plot above is not true?

F. The smallest wave measured was 5 feet high.


G. About one quarter of the data lie between 9.5 feet and 11 feet.
H. About half of the data lie between 7 feet and 11 feet.
I. The range in heights is 4 feet.
Lesson 3.4

Box-and-Whisker Plots

127

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