Math Bell Ringer for Grades 6–8: Mean, median, mode, and range
A free math bell ringer for grades 6–8. Put the prompt on the board as students walk in, give them three to five minutes, then go over it together. The answer and teacher notes are in the box below the prompt.
The prompt
A student logged how many minutes they read each day for a week: 12, 15, 9, 15, 20, 14, 13.
- Find the mean, median, mode, and range.
- On day 8 they read for 30 minutes. Which changes more, the mean or the median?
Answer and teacher notes
1. Sum: 12 + 15 + 9 + 15 + 20 + 14 + 13 = 98. Mean = 98 ÷ 7 = 14. In order: 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 15, 20, so the median is the 4th value, 14. Mode = 15 (appears twice). Range = 20 − 9 = 11.
2. New sum: 98 + 30 = 128, and 128 ÷ 8 = 16, so the mean rises by 2. New order: 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 15, 20, 30; median = (14 + 15) ÷ 2 = 14.5, a rise of only 0.5. The mean changes more, because one unusually large value pulls the mean but barely moves the middle. Common mistake: finding the median without putting the numbers in order first.
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