Describing a Data Set

Describing a Data Set Worksheet (Grade 6 Science, TEKS 6.2B)

Help grade 6 students describe data the way scientists do. This one-page reading and activity sheet teaches four simple features of a data set with a worked example, then lets students find each one for a new set of data.

What's Inside

• A short reading that teaches minimum, maximum, range, and mean with five daily high temperatures
• A Key Words note for quick review
• Activity 1: Students follow six steps for five ice cube melting times: put them in order, then find the minimum, maximum, range, total, and mean
• Activity 2: Two questions on what the mean tells us and how one new value changes the range
• A visual answer key with answers marked in red

How Teachers Use It

Use it before a lab where students collect their own data, as a warm-up, or as a check on TEKS 6.2B. Every term is taught on the page, so no prior knowledge is needed. The sheet takes about 10 minutes and prints clearly in black and white.

This worksheet is part of the Reading in Science series for grade 6. It supports TEKS 6.2B: analyze data by identifying any significant descriptive statistical features, patterns, sources of error, or limitations. Pair it with the other 6.2B sheets to build a short unit on data analysis.

Why It Works

Each sheet teaches the key terms in plain words first, then asks students to use only what the page taught. Activities stay at the circle, sort, match, and fill-in level, so students build confidence while the answer key lets teachers check work fast. The clean layout is also easy to project for a whole-class review.