Measuring SpreadTwo data sets can share a mean and be nothing alike.7th GradeThe mean tells you the centre. Spread tells you how trustworthy that centre is.1FIND THE MEANAdd everything, divide by how many.2FIND EACH DISTANCE FROM ITIgnore the signs — use absolute values.3AVERAGE THOSE DISTANCESThat is the mean absolute deviation.4COMPAREA bigger MAD means the data is more spread out.SAME MEAN, DIFFERENT SPREADSet A: 9, 10, 11 → mean 10, MAD 0.67Set B: 2, 10, 18 → mean 10, MAD 5.33Range uses only two values, so one outlier distorts it. MAD uses everyvalue.Measuring Spreadlearnposters.com
Measuring Spread — printable math wall chart from LearnPosters. Free vector PDF, US Letter and A4.

Measuring Spread, step by step

The mean tells you the centre. Spread tells you how trustworthy that centre is.

  1. FIND THE MEANAdd everything, divide by how many.
  2. FIND EACH DISTANCE FROM ITIgnore the signs — use absolute values.
  3. AVERAGE THOSE DISTANCESThat is the mean absolute deviation.
  4. COMPAREA bigger MAD means the data is more spread out.

same mean, different spread

  • Set A: 9, 10, 11 → mean 10, MAD 0.67
  • Set B: 2, 10, 18 → mean 10, MAD 5.33

Range uses only two values, so one outlier distorts it. MAD uses every value.

Questions about the Measuring Spread poster

What’s on the Measuring Spread poster?
4 numbered steps, with a full worked run-through. The mean tells you the centre. Spread tells you how trustworthy that centre is. FIND THE MEAN — Add everything, divide by how many.; FIND EACH DISTANCE FROM IT — Ignore the signs — use absolute values.; AVERAGE THOSE DISTANCES — That is the mean absolute deviation.; COMPARE — A bigger MAD means the data is more spread out.. Range uses only two values, so one outlier distorts it. MAD uses every value.
Who is the Measuring Spread poster for?
Measuring Spread is filed under 7th Grade (ages 12–13), so it matches what that year asks a child to remember. It is equally useful to an older student revisiting math, and to the parent or teacher answering the question at the kitchen table.
When should you use the Measuring Spread poster?
Compare two sets with the same mean but different spreads. The average alone hides it. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Measuring Spread belongs on the wall where that math work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
What other posters go with Measuring Spread?
Box Plots, Samples and Populations and Angle Pairs sit alongside Measuring Spread in the 7th Grade set. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Box PlotsSamples and PopulationsAngle Pairs
Is the Measuring Spread poster free to download and print?
Yes. Measuring Spread downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the 7th Grade set. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
What size does the Measuring Spread poster print at?
Measuring Spread is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Measuring Spread loses nothing.Printing guide

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