Georgia Performance Standards (GPS – 7th grade)
M7D1. Students will pose questions, collect data, represent and analyze the data and interpret results by using measures of central tendency (mean, median, and mode).
National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
Data Analysis and Probability Standard for Grades 6-8
Select and use appropriate statistical methods to analyze data: find, use and interpret measures of center and spread, including mean and range.
In the middle grades, students should learn to use the mean, and continue to use the median and the mode, to describe the center of a set of data. Students need to understand that the mean "evens out" or "balances" a set of data and that the median identifies the "middle" of a data set. They should compare the utility of the mean and the median as measures of center for different data sets. The teacher has an important role in providing experiences that help students construct a solid understanding of the mean and its relation to other measures of center.