Transum Software

Standard Deviation

Find how 'spread out' data is by estimating and calculating this measure of dispersion

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Exam-Style Description Help More Statistics
No calculator

This is level 1: compare small data sets by estimating their dispersion. You can earn a trophy if you get at least 4 questions correct and you do this activity online.

1. Drag these three sets into order according to their dispersion. The set with the smallest dispersion should be at the top.

7, 2, 3
6, 2, 2
1, 2, 3
Correct Wrong

2. The following is the data collected regarding the length of snakes captured on three consecutive days. Drag these three sets into order according to their standard deviation. The set with the smallest standard deviation should be at the top.

17cm , 34cm, 99cm
22cm, 32cm
23cm, 37cm
Correct Wrong

3. The following sets show the weights of empty containers found in three locations. Drag these three sets into order according to their standard deviation. The set with the smallest standard deviation should be at the top.

3,750 kg, 3,750 kg, 3,750 kg, 3,750 kg, 3,750 kg
3,200 kg, 3,750 kg, 3,750 kg, 4,250 kg
3,200 kg, 3,750 kg
Correct Wrong

4. Drag these three sets into order according to their dispersion. The set with the smallest dispersion should be at the top.

188, 243, 944, 243
11, 99, 67, 23
4.7, 8.17, 5.99, 7.7, 4.65
Correct Wrong

5. Drag these three sets into order according to their standard deviation. The set with the smallest standard deviation should be at the top.

10, 21, 49, 87, 90
10, 80, 49, 31, 90
10, 53, 54, 50, 90
Correct Wrong
Check

This is Standard Deviation level 1. You can also try:
Level 2 Level 3 Level 4

Instructions

Try your best to answer the questions above. Type your answers into the boxes provided leaving no spaces. As you work through the exercise regularly click the "check" button. If you have any wrong answers, do your best to do corrections but if there is anything you don't understand, please ask your teacher for help.

When you have got all of the questions correct you may want to print out this page and paste it into your exercise book. If you keep your work in an ePortfolio you could take a screen shot of your answers and paste that into your Maths file.

Why am I learning this?

Mathematicians are not the people who find Maths easy; they are the people who enjoy how mystifying, puzzling and hard it is. Are you a mathematician?

Comment recorded on the 7 December 'Starter of the Day' page by Cathryn Aldridge, Pells Primary:

"I use Starter of the Day as a registration and warm-up activity for my Year 6 class. The range of questioning provided is excellent as are some of the images.
I rate this site as a 5!"

Comment recorded on the 3 October 'Starter of the Day' page by S Mirza, Park High School, Colne:

"Very good starters, help pupils settle very well in maths classroom."

Each month a newsletter is published containing details of the new additions to the Transum website and a new puzzle of the month.

The newsletter is then duplicated as a podcast which is available on the major delivery networks. You can listen to the podcast while you are commuting, exercising or relaxing.

Transum breaking news is available on Twitter @Transum and if that's not enough there is also a Transum Facebook page.

Featured Activity

Great Expectation

Great Expectation

An interactive online activity requiring logical thinking and a certain amount of luck. Numbers 1 to 6 are presented randomly and are to be used to produce two 2-digit numbers. Can you ensure that the first number is greater than the second?

Answers

There are answers to this exercise but they are available in this space to teachers, tutors and parents who have logged in to their Transum subscription on this computer.

A Transum subscription unlocks the answers to the online exercises, quizzes and puzzles. It also provides the teacher with access to quality external links on each of the Transum Topic pages and the facility to add to the collection themselves.

Subscribers can manage class lists, lesson plans and assessment data in the Class Admin application and have access to reports of the Transum Trophies earned by class members.

If you would like to enjoy ad-free access to the thousands of Transum resources, receive our monthly newsletter, unlock the printable worksheets and see our Maths Lesson Finishers then sign up for a subscription now:

Subscribe

Go Maths

Learning and understanding Mathematics, at every level, requires learner engagement. Mathematics is not a spectator sport. Sometimes traditional teaching fails to actively involve students. One way to address the problem is through the use of interactive activities and this web site provides many of those. The Go Maths page is an alphabetical list of free activities designed for students in Secondary/High school.

Maths Map

Are you looking for something specific? An exercise to supplement the topic you are studying at school at the moment perhaps. Navigate using our Maths Map to find exercises, puzzles and Maths lesson starters grouped by topic.

Teachers

If you found this activity useful don't forget to record it in your scheme of work or learning management system. The short URL, ready to be copied and pasted, is as follows:

Alternatively, if you use Google Classroom, all you have to do is click on the green icon below in order to add this activity to one of your classes.

It may be worth remembering that if Transum.org should go offline for whatever reason, there is a mirror site at Transum.info that contains most of the resources that are available here on Transum.org.

When planning to use technology in your lesson always have a plan B!

Transum.org is a proud supporter of the kidSAFE Seal Program

© Transum Mathematics :: This activity can be found online at:
www.Transum.org/go/?Num=815

Description of Levels

Close

Close

Level 1 - Compare small data sets by estimating their dispersion

Level 2 - Without a calculator find the standard deviation of a small data set

Level 3 - Use a calculator find the standard deviation of a data set

Level 4 - Use a calculator find the standard deviation of grouped data

Exam Style Questions - A collection of problems in the style of GCSE or IB/A-level exam paper questions (worked solutions are available for Transum subscribers).

More Statistics Resources including lesson Starters, visual aids, investigations and self-marking exercises.

Answers to this exercise are available lower down this page when you are logged in to your Transum account. If you don’t yet have a Transum subscription one can be very quickly set up if you are a teacher, tutor or parent.

Log in Sign up

Curriculum Reference

See the National Curriculum page for links to related online activities and resources.

What is Standard Deviation?

This great video is from Jeremy Jones.

Help with Level 1

For this introductory exercise you have to consider how spread out the values in the set are and then compare this (called the dispersion or standard deviation) with the other sets in the group.

You can drag the sets up or down until the three sets in the group are in order with the least spread out at the top and the most spread out at the bottom.

It may help to visualise the numbers on a number line and then it would be clearer how spread out the numbers are. For example consider the following two sets:

Set A: {15,14,17,10,19}

Set B: {9,6,14,21,28}

Plotted on a number line they look like this:

Dispersion number line

It is clear from the diagram that the numbers in set B are more spread out than the numbers in set A.

Don't wait until you have finished the exercise before you click on the 'Check' button. Click it often as you work through the questions to see if you are answering them correctly. You can double-click the 'Check' button to make it float at the bottom of your screen.

Answers to this exercise are available lower down this page when you are logged in to your Transum account. If you don’t yet have a Transum subscription one can be very quickly set up if you are a teacher, tutor or parent.

Log in Sign up

Close

Close