topic badge

10.02 Problem solving with line plots

Lesson

Are you ready?

Can you read information from a line plot?

A set of measurements in inches have been recorded in the table below.

$15$15 $16$16 $17$17 $15$15
$18$18 $17$17 $15$15 $17$17
$17$17 $17$17 $17$17 $17$17
  1. Which of the following line plots correctly shows the measurements?

    A

    B

    C

    D
  2. What is the smallest measurement that was made?

  3. Which measurement was most common?

Learn

We can create a line plot from a data set in order to more easily understand key features of the data set, such as the most common value, and the largest and smallest values.

Once we can see these key features in a line plot, we can also make calculations involving them to solve problems about the set of data. For instance, we might want to know the difference between the smallest and largest values in the data set, or we might want to know how many more times one value appears than another value.

Make sure to look out for keywords that tell us what operation we can use to solve the problem. Some keywords for addition and subtraction are:

addition subtraction
more less
in total remaining
plus take away
sum difference

Apply

Question 1

A set of measurements are shown in the line plot below.

  1. Which measurement was recorded the most number of times?

  2. How much smaller is the most common measurement than the largest measurement?

Remember!

Line plots are a way to represent sets of data visually, and can make it easier to see key features of the data set.

Once we have the key features, we can then solve problems about the set of data.

Outcomes

4.MD.B.4

Make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions of the same unit (1/2 or 1/4 or 1/8). Use operations on fractions for this grade to solve problems involving information presented in line plots. For example, from a line plot find and interpret the difference in length between the longest and shortest specimens in an insect collection.

What is Mathspace

About Mathspace