Video Transcript
The broken line graph shows the
number of matches that two volleyball teams, the Blue Jays and the Robins, played
each month for five months. Calculate the median number of
matches played by each team.
Let’s begin by considering what is
shown on the line graph. The horizontal or 𝑥-axis shows
five months, March, April, May, June, and July. The vertical or 𝑦-axis shows the
number of matches played. This axis goes from zero to 10. The blue line shows the number of
matches played in each month by the Blue Jays. The black line shows the same
information for the Robins. If the line is sloping downwards
from month to month, then the number of matches decreases, whereas if it slopes
upwards, the number of matches is increasing.
Let’s firstly consider the Blue
Jays. In March, the Blue Jays played nine
matches. This is the first dot on the blue
line. In April, they also played nine
matches. In May and June, the number of
matches dropped to five. And in July, they played six
matches. Now, let’s consider the number of
matches played by the Robins in each of the five months. The first point on this line graph
corresponds to six matches. So they played six matches in
March. They played five matches in April,
nine in May, six in June, and seven in July.
In this question, we’re asked to
calculate the median number for each team. The median is a measure of average
or central tendency. It is the middle value when the
data is in ascending order. Placing the data for the Blue Jays
in ascending order, we have five, five, six, nine, and nine. As the median will be the middle
value, we can begin by crossing off the highest and lowest value. Crossing off another value from
either end leaves us with one number in the middle. The median number of matches played
by the Blue Jays is six. We can repeat this process for the
Robins. Listing their number of games in
order, we have five, six, six, seven, and nine. We cross off five and nine,
followed by six and seven, from either end.
This means that the median number
of matches played by the Robbins is also six. This means that the median number
of matches played by each team over the five-month period was six. We could also use this data to
compare other aspects of the results, for example, the mean, mode, and range. Comparing each of these values for
both of the teams would enable us to compare the data more thoroughly.
