5 Number Summary and

Box & Whisker Plots

 The 5 Number Summary

The five number summary is another name for 5 numbers that are
needed to create a box and whisker plot.

5 number summary

Lower Upper
Median Minimum Maximum
Quartile Quartile
Median

Find the median. The median is the middle number when

the numbers are in order from least to greatest.
 It is also known as the 2nd quartile.

34, 18, 100, 27, 54, 52, 93, 59, 61, 87, 68, 85, 78, 82, 91

*Remember to put the numbers in order*

18, 27, 34, 52, 54, 59, 61, 68, 78, 82, 85, 87, 91, 93, 100

68 is the median of this data set.

Minimum Value

The minimum value is the smallest number in a data

set.

18, 27, 34, 52, 54, 59, 61, 68, 78, 82, 85, 87, 91, 93, 100

18 is the minimum value of this data set.

Maximum Value

Maximum value is the biggest number in a data set.

18, 27, 34, 52, 54, 59, 61, 68, 78, 82, 85, 87, 91, 93, 100

100 is the maximum value of this data set.

Lower Quartile

The Lower quartile is the median of the

lower half of the data.
It is also known as the 1st quartile

18, 27, 34, 52, 54, 59, 61, 68, 78, 82, 85, 87, 91, 93, 100

52 is the lower quartile of this data set.

Upper Quartile

The Upper quartile is the median of the

upper half of the data.
It is also known as the 3rd quartile

18, 27, 34, 52, 54, 59, 61, 68, 78, 82, 85, 87, 91, 93, 100

87 is the upper quartile of this data set.

 Box and Whisker Plots
A box and whisker plot is a visual
summary of the data using the 5 number
summary. It allows you to see important
characteristics of the data at a glance.
Creating a Box

Step 1 – Draw a number line.

Be sure to include the minimum and maximum values
as well as every number in between.
18, 27, 34, 52, 54, 59, 61, 68, 78, 82, 85, 87, 91, 93, 100
Constructing a box and whisker plot

Step 2 – Place a dot above the maximum value,

minimum value, median, upper quartile, and lower
quartile.
18, 27, 34, 52, 54, 59, 61, 68, 78, 82, 85, 87, 91, 93, 100
Constructing a box and whisker plot

Step 3 – Draw vertical lines through the median,

lower quartile, and upper quartile.

18, 27, 34, 52, 54, 59, 61, 68, 78, 82, 85, 87, 91, 93, 100
Constructing a box and whisker plot

Step 4 – Create the box.

Draw horizontal lines from the upper and lower
quartiles.

18, 27, 34, 52, 54, 59, 61, 68, 78, 82, 85, 87, 91, 93, 100
Constructing a box and whisker plot

Step 5 – Create whiskers.

Draw a horizontal line from the lower quartile to
the minimum value. Draw another horizontal line
from the upper quartile to the maximum value.

18, 27, 34, 52, 54, 59, 61, 68, 78, 82, 85, 87, 91, 93, 100
Interquartile Range

The inter-quartile range (IQR) is the range of data from the

upper to the lower quartile.

To find the interquartile range, subtract the lower

quartile from the upper quartile.
87 – 52 = 35, so the IQR is 35.
The IQR is represented in the box and whisker plot by the
box.
Range

The range of the data can be found by subtracting

the minimum value from the maximum value.

100 – 18 = 82, so the range is 82.

Analyzing The Graph
The data is split into four quartiles.
Each quartile is 25% of the data.
The data values found inside the box represent the middle
half ( 50%) of the data as well as the interquartile range.
The line segment inside the box represents the median
Practice

Use the following set of data to create the 5

number summary and then a box and whisker
plot.
Number of Minutes Spent on Math Homework
3, 7, 11, 11, 15, 21, 23, 39, 41, 45
Minimum: 3
Maximum: 45
Median: 18
Lower Quartile: 11
Upper Quartile: 39
Graph The Data
Interpreting the Box Plot:

Study your Box and Whisker Plot to determine

what it is telling you. Make a statement about
what it is saying, then support the statement
with facts from your graph.
 You should include the following in
your interpretation:
• Range or spread of the data and what it
means to your graph
• Quartiles—compare them. What are they
telling you about the data?
• Median- this is an important part of the
graph, and should be an important part of
the interpretation.
• Percentages should be used to interpret
the data, where relevant.