# The mean and handling data · Grade 6

> The mean and handling data, Grade 6: Finding the mean, The missing value and more. Explanation, worked examples and free practice following the Israeli curriculum.

In The mean and handling data (Grade 6) you practise 4 skills: Finding the mean · The missing value · Properties of the mean · Reading data, big numbers.

The mean is what each one gets when everything is shared out equally. To find it, add all the values and divide the sum by how many values there are. For example, the mean of 4, 6 and 8 is 18 divided by 3, which is 6.

When you know the mean and how many values there are, you can find the sum: the mean times the number of values. That is how you find a missing value.

The mean is always between the smallest value and the largest, but it does not have to be one of the values, and it does not have to be a whole number. A new value changes the mean: a value bigger than the mean pulls it up, and a value smaller than the mean pulls it down. Adding a 0 pulls the mean down, too.

Tables and charts sometimes hold very big numbers. A million is a thousand thousands, and a billion is a thousand million.

**Tip:** Before you divide, count the values. A 0 is a value too, and it counts.

## What you learn

### Finding the mean

- Example: What is the mean of the numbers? 6, 13, 7, 14
- Answer: 10
- Solution: 6 + 13 + 7 + 14 = 40 40 ÷ 4 = 10 The mean is 10.

### The missing value

- Example: The mean of three numbers is 14. Two of them are: 20, 4 What is the missing number?
- Answer: 18
- Solution: 14 × 3 = 42 20 + 4 = 24 42 − 24 = 18 The missing number is 18.

### Properties of the mean

- Example: The mean of these numbers is 11: 16, 7, 13, 8 The number 11 is added to the list. What happens to the mean?
- Options: It goes up · It stays the same · It goes down
- Answer: It stays the same
- Solution: The new number is equal to the mean, 11, so the mean stays the same. 44 + 11 = 55 The new mean is 55 divided by 5, that is 11.

### Reading data, big numbers

- Example: The children in the neighbourhood chose a sports club. (A bar chart: Football, Basketball, Swimming, Running, Tennis. The lines on the scale go up in steps of 2.) How many children chose football?
- Answer: 10
- Solution: The bar for Football reaches 10. The lines on the scale go up in steps of 2.

## Not on the site yet

- The mode (taught in grade 5)
- What the numbers could be
- The pros and cons of the mean

The exercises are made by rules and the answers are worked out in code. The topic follows the new Israeli elementary programme (2023).

[Practise on the site](https://kixplo.com/il/en/) · [All Grade 6 topics](https://kixplo.com/il/en/math/grade-6/2023/)