Hi. I am in need of a 4th grade math lesson plan involving mean, median, mode, and range. I am really looking for something a bit more creative, and am experiencing a temporary mental block. Any help with a fun and creative lesson would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks! -Brian
What about using newspaper circulars and doing some holiday "shopping". Have the kids each choose 7 items they would like to "buy" as gifts. Then have small groups compile the prices for their items and search for the mean, median, and mode of the prices. If going into decimals would be too hard for 4th grade have them round everything to the nearest dollar.
You could have them make up their own questionnaires and interview each other in class, then use that data for their calculations.
I have six table groups. I had each member in the table group measure a partner in their group with a ruler. Then they used this information to find the mean, median, mode and range. Your could also do shoe size, weight, students age, etc.
The MMMR Rap The MMMR Rap The M, The M, The MMMR Rap. The M, The M, The MMMR Rap. Now Mode, Mode, I've been told, is the # that you see the most. Median, Median, Median, is the man. The man in the middle, the man in the middle. Just line up the #'s the best you can From smallest to largest, From smallest to largest. Now Mean, Mean, he is the best. Of course he is better than all the rest. Just add, add, add all your #'s, and when you divide you won't believe your eyes- you'll only have one # to your surprise. Last but not least is our friend the Range- He isn't the best, but he sure is strange. You start with the Hiiiggghhhh and subtract the Loooowwww!!! You've got the Range and there is no mo'! The M, The M, The MMMR Rap. The M, The M, The MMMR Rap. When you sing it out loud--it's all just a snap! After the students have practiced this a couple of times they can begin to add body movement to the words. It works best if they stand up to sing. The students will enjoy figuring out how to add gestures to match the lyrics. I hope you enjoy this song and it helps aid in your students long term memory of this concept!
I've done graphing with these words. I gave each student a mini bag of M&Ms and they graphed their own individual colors on a bar graph. Then we compliled the class's results and found the landmarks for the information.
I love the activity I did with my class! I made a "Human Bar Graph" I had the students look at a map and write on a post it the number of states they have visited. Then we line up in order from lowest-largest. We go over maximum/minimum. Then we start from the ends and sit down until we get the median. Mode we have the students make a bar graph, so all students who have been to 10 states, for example, stand one in front of the other. I always remind them of this activity when they get confused about what mode is!
In our fourth grade class all the students fill out a survey on their opinion of various topics such as: favorite sport, favorite subject, favorite pop, favorite color, favorite lunch, favorite ice cream, etc. Then students take all the data from the survey of a particular topic and place data on a tally chart. From there the students make various representations of the same data making a picto graph, bar graph line graph and pie graph. Some students advance to making a comparison graph after giving the survey to a different grade level. On each graph students must create a title and subtitles. They also have to list the range, median and mode of each graph they do. They love creating the graphs and then presenting their findings to the class.
To remember range - IF IT'S RANGE YOU WANT TO KNOW, FIND THE HIGH AND SUBTRACT THE LOW. To remember mode - the number that appears MOST OFTEN, such like the first two letters of mode. To remember median - sounds like medium, or the number in the middle. To remember mean - THE MEAN TEACHER GAVE ME MY GRADE, once you have explained to them how you AVERAGE their grades for their report cards.
I have done the m&m thing above. I've also taken them outside and thrown softballs and wiffle balls to measure and then derive the mmmr from. We graphed the distances too. Good way to review and hit skills.
One of my favorite lessons on this topic asks students to record data on small boxes of raisins. We estimate and count the actual number of raisins per box. The data is listed on the board. From there, we organize the data into a class line plot (actually using the empty boxes). We then find the mean, median, mode, and range.
