Math Lesson: Mean, Median, & Mode
Lesson Plan
1 hour 20 minutesGrades6, 7, 8, 9Mathematics
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Written by Greta Stacy, Scott Anderson
About this lesson
Students work individually or in groups to calculate statistical values of global temperatures over time and use their calculations to make predictions. Options include analyzing climate data from multiple regions, calculating the 50-year mean and standard deviation using Google Sheets or Excel, and presenting their findings.
Inquire: Students discuss their experiences with the outdoors, and how those experiences have changed over time.
Investigate: Students use table data to calculate the mean, median, and mode of world temperatures over time.
Inspire: Students learn about strategies to combat climate anxiety, and make a poster of their findings to share.
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Suggestions
- This lesson ties to the news the students often hear about our world’s increasing temperature, which may lead to feelings of anxiety. This lesson has strong SEL connections and gives students space to discuss these feelings.
- This lesson could be taught in high school for review and deeper time spent researching the effects of rising temperatures on our planet.
- This lesson could also be taught in a science class, as the data analysis skills taught here are relevant in that discipline as well.
- If taught in shorter periods, the first day could cover the Inquire section and the Investigate section through the calculations of mean, median, and mode. The second day could pick back up with finishing the Investigate section and the Inspire section.
- This lesson can be paired with a social studies or civics unit on climate policy since students are calculating real trends that inform policy debates.
- This lesson can be extended into a semester-long project where students revisit their region’s data each month and track how predictions compare to actual new data.
- For 6th grade, this lesson can be adjusted to focus only on one region and mean data before introducing all three. Mode and median comparison can be focused on in 7th and 8th grade, with mean comparison as a review.
- Teachers can use a “data detective” framing where students investigate why one measure of center might tell a different story than another for the same dataset.
- The Inspire section can be connected to a schoolwide sustainability initiative or a student environmental club.
- For an ELA connection, students can use the data to tell a story or use it as the setting of a climate-fiction story.
Prerequisites
- Teachers can tease the lesson by asking students: Is it hot or cold today? Is it warmer/colder than yesterday? Last year? 10 years ago?
- Students should already understand what a data set and a data point are, or may need a quick review.
- Students will need computers to do some quick research in the lesson.
- Students will need to know that there are two scales of temperature measurement (°C and °F), and they may need to convert.
- Students should have some familiarity with rounding rules, since decade averages might produce repeating or long decimals.
- Teachers can use this resource on Gallery Walks if needed to help make the activity meaningful.
- Teachers should preview the climate anxiety video ahead of time to gauge whether additional counselor support or a heads-up to families is warranted, especially for students who may have personal experience with climate-related disasters.
- Teachers may want to review basic line graph construction, such as axes, scale, and plotting points, if students haven't practiced this recently.
Differentiation
- Students can work in teams. Each group can present their findings, including supporting mathematics.
- Students can investigate multiple regions of the U.S.
- Teachers can assign each group a different region to investigate.
- Students can use Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel to calculate the mean for the last 50 years and the standard deviation. Students can learn about what a standard deviation is and share what they notice.
- Advanced students can calculate standard deviation or range in addition to mean/median/mode and interpret what it reveals about climate variability beyond average warming.
- Students can be challenged to find and analyze a dataset from a country outside of the U.S. and compare trends.
- Students can research and critique how media headlines sometimes misuse statistics and evaluate the claim against the raw data.
- Students can design their own dataset by tracking local weather for one month and apply the same statistical analysis.
From the scientist review
Students will learn how to employ variance, the measures of central tendency (mean, median, and mode), and fundamental mathematical operations to examine and simplify large climatic datasets in order to explain the trends found within them. This exercise will also motivate them to overcome their climate anxiety and come up with climate solutions to save the planet. This lesson passed our science credibility test after we evaluated it.
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About the teacher writers
Greta Stacy
Education Specialist
Greta Stacy holds a Bachelor of Chemistry from Smith College, a Master of Teaching from Hamline University, and a Graduate Diploma in Chemical Engineering from the University of Limerick. She has nine years of experience teaching chemistry, science, and mathematics for grades 9–12. Greta holds a Minnesota 9–12 Chemistry teaching license, UK Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), Irish Teaching Council registration, and certifications in International Baccalaureate Chemistry and Advanced Placement Biology.
Scott Anderson
Scott Anderson holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Platteville and a Master's degree in Instruction from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. He has been teaching STEM for grades 9–12 since 2006, bringing prior industry experience as an engineer into the classroom to connect learning with real-world applications. Scott holds a Wisconsin Lifetime Teaching License and leads hands-on sustainability initiatives as the Wisconsin Green Team advisor, while supporting climate education as a lesson author for SubjectToClimate.
