Box Plots for Kids: Median, Quartiles and the Five Number Summary (Grade 6 Math)

Hi, I'm Luna from DoodleBeez. Today we are learning about box plots. A box plot shows how a set of data is spread out. It uses just five special numbers to draw a box with two whiskers.

The five numbers are called the five number summary. They are the minimum, the lower quartile, the median, the upper quartile, and the maximum. Together they split the data into four parts.

Seven students counted the books they read this summer. First, put the numbers in order. Three, five, six, eight, ten, eleven, fourteen. The median is the middle number, which is eight.

Now find the middle of each half. The lower half is three, five and six, so the lower quartile is five. The upper half is ten, eleven and fourteen, so the upper quartile is eleven.

Let's draw it on a number line. The box goes from the lower quartile, five, to the upper quartile, eleven. A line inside marks the median, eight. Whiskers reach out to three and fourteen.

Box plots help us measure spread. The range is the maximum minus the minimum, fourteen minus three, which is eleven. The interquartile range is the upper quartile minus the lower quartile, eleven minus five, which is six.

Now it's your turn. Find the median and both quartiles for one, three, four, six, nine, eleven and twelve. Pause and try. The median is six. The lower quartile is three, and the upper quartile is eleven.

Great job! Remember, put the data in order, find the median, then find the middle of each half. Draw the box from the lower to the upper quartile. Practice box plots in Middle School Math at doodlebeez.com. See you next time!