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Activity (Hands-On)Grades 7 - 10

Means, Modes and Medians

Image consisting of a diagram (left) and a photograph (right), both showing the experimental setup for this activity. An elastic spring or a bungee cord is shown both in equilibrium position and stretched due to a heavy weight (left). During this activity, a LEGO MINDSTORMS-based sensor is used to measure the displacement of an oscillating platform attached to a bungee cord (right).Figure 1. Experimental setup.

Students experience data collection, analysis and inquiry in this LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3-based activity. They measure the position of an oscillating platform using a ultrasonic sensor and perform statistical analysis to determine the mean, mode, median, percent difference and percent error for the collected data.

Data acquisition and analysis are two skills commonly practiced by scientists and engineers.

After this activity, students should be able to:

  • Compute mean, mode and median for a given data set.
  • Compute percent difference and percent error from raw, experimental data.
  • Observe and analyze oscillations of a spring-mass system.

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