Stem and Leaf Plots

one way to organize and display data is to use stem-and-leaf plots. in a stem-and-leaf plots, numerical data are listed in ascending or descending order. the greatest place value of the data is used for the stem. The next greatest place value forms the leaves.

Steps for drawing a stem-and-leaf plot

1. find the least and the greatest number. Then identify the greatest place value digit in each numbers.

2. Draw a vertical line and write the stems to the left of the line.

3. Write the leaves to the right of the line with the corresponding stem.

4. Rearrange the leaves so they are ordered from least to greatest. Then include a key or an explanation.

Box-and-whisker Plots  

A box and whisker plot divides a set of data into four parts using the median and quartiles. A box is drawn around the quartile values, and whiskers extend from each quartile to the extreme data points.

Steps for drawing a Box-and-whisker Plot

1. Find the least and greatest number. Then draw a number line that covers the range of the data.

2. Find the median, the extremes, and the upper and lower quartiles. Mark these points above the number line.

3. Draw a box and the whiskers.

Histogram

Another type of graph that can be used to display data is a histogram. A histogram uses bars to display numerical data that have been organized into equal intervals.

Steps for drawing a Histogram

1. Draw and label a horizontal and vertical axis. Include the title.

2. Show the intervals from the frequency table on the horizontal axis and an interval of 1 on the vertical axis.

3. For each cost interval, draw a bar whose height is given by the frequency.

Resource

Glencoe Mathematics, Pre Algebra