Why is the range important? Grade 6 math explanation

📚 Understanding the Range in Math

The range is a way to describe how spread out a set of numbers is. It's super easy to find! Just subtract the smallest number from the biggest number.

• 🔢 Find the Biggest Number: Look at all the numbers in your set and find the largest one. This is your maximum value.
• 📉 Find the Smallest Number: Now, find the smallest number in your set. This is your minimum value.
• ➖ Subtract: Take the biggest number and subtract the smallest number from it. The answer you get is the range!

➕ Example

Let's say your numbers are: 3, 7, 2, 9, 1

1. Biggest number: 9
2. Smallest number: 1
3. Range: $9 - 1 = 8$

So, the range of this set of numbers is 8!

💡 Why is Range Important?

The range tells us how much the data varies. A small range means the numbers are close together, while a large range means they are more spread out.

• 🌡️ Temperature: Imagine tracking the daily high temperatures. A small range (like 20°C to 25°C) means the weather was pretty consistent.
• 📏 Heights: If you measure the heights of students in your class, the range can show how much the heights vary.

📝 Practice Quiz

Find the range for each set of numbers:

1. 12, 5, 8, 15, 2
2. 25, 30, 20, 35, 40
3. 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
4. 10, 20, 15, 5, 25

Answers:

1. 13 ($15-2=13$)
2. 20 ($40-20=20$)
3. 0 ($1-1=0$)
4. 20 ($25-5=20$)