Interquartile Range and Box Plots

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Warm Up
Solve each problem.
1. Ricardo knows that the product of 12 and a number is 204,
but he is having trouble determining the value of the
number. Draw a bar diagram to model the situation. Then
write an equation that could be used to find the number.

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Warm Up

2. Camille has a piece of string that is 31.2 centimeters long.

She needs to cut the string into four equal pieces. What is
the length of each piece?

3. Graph the numbers on a number line.

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Warm Up

Solve each problem.

1. Ricardo knows that the product of 12 and a number is 204,
but he is having trouble determining the value of the
number. Draw a bar diagram to model the situation. Then
write an equation that could be used to find the number.

12 𝑥=204
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Warm Up

2. Camille has a piece of string that is 31.2 centimeters long.

She needs to cut the string into four equal pieces. What is
the length of each piece?
7.8 cm
3. Graph the numbers on a number line.

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Standards for Mathematical Content

6.SP.A.2
Understand that a set of data collected to answer a statistical
question has a distribution which can be described by its center,
spread, and overall shape.
6.SP.A.3
Recognize that a measure of center for a numerical data set
summarizes all of its values with a single number, while a measure
of variation describes how its values vary with a single number.
6.SP.B.4
Display numerical data in plots on a number line, including dot
plots, histograms, and box plots.
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Standards for Mathematical Content

6.SP.B.5
Summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context.
6.SP.B.5.C
Summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context, such
as by giving quantitative measures of center (median and/or
mean) and variability (interquartile range and/or mean absolute
deviation), as well as describing any overall pattern and any
striking deviations from the overall pattern with reference to the
context in which the data were gathered.

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Standards for Mathematical Practice

MP2
Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
MP3
Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
MP6
Attend to precision.

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Lesson Goal

Students will understand interquartile range and construct

box plots.

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Learn
Measures of Variation

Measures of variation are values that describe the

variability, or spread, of a data set. They describe how
the values of a data set vary with a single number.
One measure of variation is the range, which is the
difference between the greatest and least data values
in a data set. Consider the data set shown.

The data values range from 0

to 8. The range is 8–0, or 8.

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Learn
Measures of Variation

Another measure of variation is the interquartile range.

Before you can find this measure, you first need to
understand and find quartiles. Quartiles divide the data
into four equal parts. The first quartile, is the median of
the data values less than the median. The third quartile,
is the median of the data values greater than the
median. The median is also known as the second
quartile, .

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Learn
Measures of Variation

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Learn
Measures of Variation

Talk About It!

How does knowing that the data is divided into
four equal parts help you remember the
vocabulary term quartile?

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Learn
Measures of Variation

The interquartile range (IQR) is the distance between the first and
third quartiles of the data set. To find the IQR, subtract the first
quartile from the third quartile.

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Learn
Measures of Variation

The interquartile range

represents the middle half,
or middle 50%, of the
data. The lower the IQR is
for a data set, the closer
the middle half of the data
is to the median.
In the given data set, the
IQR is , or 5.

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Learn
Measures of Variation

Talk About It!

If the median describes the center of a data set,
what does the interquartile range describe?

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Example 1
Find the Range and Interquartile Range
The table shows the approximate
maximum speeds, in miles per hour, of Animal Speed (mph)
different animals. Housecat 30
Use the range and interquartile Cheetah 70
range to describe how the data vary. Elephant 25
Lion 50
Mouse 8
Spider 1

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Example 1
Find the Range and Interquartile Range

Think About It!

Do the data values need to be in numerical
order? Why?

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Example 1
Find the Range and Interquartile Range

Part A Describe the variation of the data using the

range.
The greatest speed in the data set is 70 miles per
hour. The least speed in the data set is 1 mile per
hour.
The range is , or 69 miles per hour.
The speeds of animals vary by 69 miles per hour.

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Example 1
Find the Range and Interquartile Range

Part B Describe the variation of the data using the

interquartile range.
Step 1 Find the median.
Write the speeds in order from least to greatest.
1 8 50 70 25 30
least greatest
Find the mean of the two middle
The median is 27.5.
numbers, 25 and 30.

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Example 1
Find the Range and Interquartile Range

Step 2 Find the first and third quartiles.

The first quartile is 8. Find the median of the lower
half of the data.
The third quartile is 50. Find the median of the upper
half of the data.

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Example 1
Find the Range and Interquartile Range

Step 3 Find the interquartile range.

Interquartile range

Subtract.

So, the spread of the middle of the data is 42. This

means that the middle half of the data values vary by
42 miles per hour.

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Example 1
Find the Range and Interquartile Range

Talk About It!

Which value, the interquartile range, the first quartile,
or the third quartile tells you more about the spread of
the data values? Explain your reasoning.

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Example 1
Find the Range and Interquartile Range

Check Wind Speed

The average wind speeds for several City Speed (mph)
cities in Pennsylvania are given in the Allentown 8.9
table. Use the range and interquartile Erie 11.0
range to describe how the data vary. Harrisburg 7.5
Middletown 7.7
Philadelphia 9.5
Pittsburgh 9.0
Williamsport 7.6
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Example 1
Find the Range and Interquartile Range

Part A
Describe the variation of the data using the range.

Part B
Describe the variation of the data using the
interquartile range.

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Example 1
Find the Range and Interquartile Range

Check Wind Speed

The average wind speeds for several City Speed (mph)
cities in Pennsylvania are given in the Allentown 8.9
table. Use the range and interquartile Erie 11.0
range to describe how the data vary. Harrisburg 7.5
Middletown 7.7
Philadelphia 9.5
Pittsburgh 9.0
Williamsport 7.6
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Example 1
Find the Range and Interquartile Range

Part A
Describe the variation of the data using the range.
The data vary by a range of 3.5 miles per hour.
Part B
Describe the variation of the data using the
interquartile range.
The middle half of the data values vary by
1.9 miles per hour.

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Learn
Construct Box Plots

A box plot, or box-and-whisker plot, uses a number line

to show the distribution of a data set by plotting the
median, quartiles, and extreme values. The extreme
values, or extremes, are the greatest and least values in
the data set. The extremes, quartiles, and median are
referred to as the five-number summary.

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Learn
Construct Box Plots

A box is drawn around the two quartile values. The

whiskers extend from each quartile to the extreme data
values, unless the extremes are very far apart from the
rest of the data set. The median is marked with a vertical
line, and separates the box into two boxes.

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Learn
Construct Box Plots

Box plots separate data into four sections. These

sections are visual representations of quartiles. Even
though the parts may differ in length, each contain of the
data. The two boxes represent the middle of the data. A
longer box or whisker indicates the data are more spread
out in that section. A longer box or whisker does not
mean there are more data values in that section. Each
section contains the same number of values, of the
data.

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Example 2
Interpret Box Plots

The box plot shows the annual snowfall totals, in inches,

for a certain city over a period of 20 years.

Describe the spread and distribution of the data. What

does it tell you about the snowfall in this city?
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Example 2
Interpret Box Plots

Think About It!

What does the length of the box and whiskers tell
you about the spread of the data in the box plot?

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Example 2
Interpret Box Plots

The annual snowfall ranges from about 110 inches to

about 250 inches. The middle half of the data range from
about 140 inches to about 195 inches. Because the boxes
are shorter than the whiskers, there is less variation among
the middle half of the data. Having less variation means
there is a greater consistency among the middle 50% of
the data than in either whisker.

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Example 2
Interpret Box Plots

Talk About It!

What does the interquartile range describe in the
context of the problem?

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Example 2
Interpret Box Plots

Check
The average gas mileage, in miles per gallon, for various
sedans is shown in the box plot. Describe the distribution
of the data. What does it tell you about the average gas
mileage for those sedans?

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Example 2
Interpret Box Plots

Sample answer: The average gas mileage ranges from

about 22 to 40 mpg. The middle half of the data range from
25 to 33 mpg. The median is 27 mpg; half of the sedans
have a gas mileage above 27 mpg and half of them have a
gas mileage below 27 mpg. Because the left whisker and
left box are shorter than the right whisker and right box,
there is less variation among the lower half of the data.
Having less variation means there is a greater consistency
among the gas mileages in the sedans that have a gas
mileage under 27 mpg.

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Example 3
Construct and Interpret Box Plots

The table shows the recorded speeds of cars

traveling on a country road.

Car Speeds (mph)

25 35 27 22 34 40 20 19 23 25

Construct a box plot to represent the data. Then

describe the distribution of the data.

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Example 3
Construct and Interpret Box Plots

Think About It!

What are the different measures of variation you
need to find in order to construct a box plot?

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Example 3
Construct and Interpret Box Plots

Part A Construct a box plot.

Step 1 Order the values from least to greatest.
In order from least to greatest, the speeds are 19, 20, 22,
23, 25, 25, 27, 34, 35, and 40 miles per hour.

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Example 3
Construct and Interpret Box Plots

Step 2 Graph the values above a number line.

Find the median, the extremes, and the first and third
quartiles. Graph the values above a number line.

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Example 3
Construct and Interpret Box Plots

Step 3 Draw the box plot.

Draw a box around the first
quartile and the third quartile.
Draw a line through the median.

Draw a line from the first quartile

to the least value. Draw a line
from the third quartile to the
greatest value. Add a title.

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Example 3
Construct and Interpret Box Plots

Talk About It!

How does constructing a box plot to represent the
data help you to understand the distribution of the
data?

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Example 3
Construct and Interpret Box Plots

Part B Describe the spread and distribution of the data.

The recorded speeds range from 19 miles per hour to
40 miles per hour. The middle half of the data range
from 22 miles per hour to 34 miles per hour. Because
the boxes are longer than the whiskers, there is more
variation among the middle half of the data. Having
more variation means there is a lesser consistency
among the middle 50% of the data than in either
whisker.

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Example 3
Construct and Interpret Box Plots

Check
Earthquakes occur at different depths below Earth’s
surface. Stronger earthquakes happen at depths that
are closer to the surface. The table shows the depths
of recent earthquakes, in kilometers.

Depths of Recent Earthquakes (km)

5 15 1 11 2 7 3
9 5 4 9 10 5 7

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Example 3
Construct and Interpret Box Plots

Part A Construct a box plot to represent the data.

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Example 3
Construct and Interpret Box Plots

Part B Describe the spread and distribution of the data.

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Example 3
Construct and Interpret Box Plots

Check
Earthquakes occur at different depths below Earth’s
surface. Stronger earthquakes happen at depths that
are closer to the surface. The table shows the depths
of recent earthquakes, in kilometers.

Depths of Recent Earthquakes (km)

5 15 1 11 2 7 3
9 5 4 9 10 5 7

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Example 3
Construct and Interpret Box Plots

Part A Construct a box plot to represent the data.

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Example 3
Construct and Interpret Box Plots

Part B Describe the spread and distribution of the data.

Sample answer: The earthquake depths range from 1 km to
15 km. The middle half of the data range from 4 km to 9 km.
The median is 6 km; half of the earthquakes occurred at a depth
greater than 6 km and half of them occurred at a depth less than

6 km. Because the left whisker and left box are shorter than the
right whisker and right box, there is less variation among the
lower half of the data. Having less variation means there is a
greater consistency among the earthquakes that have a depth
of less than 6 km.
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Exit Ticket

The life expectancy of animals is the Life Expectancy

average lifespan of an animal. Many Animal
(years)
predatory cats are part of the animal
African lion 15
family felidae which has a large variation
within the group's life expectancy. For tiger 18
many biologists, it is important to find leopard 15
out more about the variation and to jaguar 22
study it. Find the median, first and third puma 18
quartile, and extremes of the data set.
serval 23
fossa 11

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Exit Ticket

The life expectancy of animals is the Life Expectancy

average lifespan of an animal. Many Animal
(years)
predatory cats are part of the animal
African lion 15
family felidae which has a large variation
within the group's life expectancy. For tiger 18
many biologists, it is important to find leopard 15
out more about the variation and to jaguar 22
study it. Find the median, first and third puma 18
quartile, and extremes of the data set.
serval 23
median: 18, first quartile: 15, third
fossa 11
quartile: 22, extremes: 11, 23
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