What are box and whisker diagrams used for?

Answer 1

Box and whisker plots are based on medians. The first step is to rewrite the data in order, from smallest length to largest. Then find the median of all numbers. The next step is to find the lower median... according to your data. Next, you find the upper median. Now you are ready to construct the actual box and whisker graph. First, draw an ordinary number line that extends far enough to include all of the numbers in your data. Then, locate the main median using a vertical line just above your number line. When you locate your lower and upper median, you place smaller vertical lines on top of those. Next, draw a box, using the lower and upper median lines as endpoints. Finally, the whiskers extend out to the data's smallest number and to the largest number. This is a box and whisker plot.

A box and whisker plot is used to display a set of data so that you can easily see where most of the numbers are.

Here is an example and a picture of a box and whisker plot!

By: a 7th grade Algebra 1 student