Everywhere we look we see numbers: speed limit signs, gas prices, temperature for the day, and the population of a city. A set of numbers or numbers comparing more than one thing can take on a different meaning. For example, the average salary of the players on a sports team or the average class score on a math test can have various meanings. Many career fields use mean, median, mode and range to find important information that helps with understanding data and trends. Farming is one career field that uses information to help and predict corn yields in a field. Why do you think it is important for farmers to predict harvest yields?
Most of the corn we grow in the U.S. is dent corn (also called field corn). While a small portion of dent corn is used for corn cereal, corn starch, corn oil and corn syrup, dent corn is a grain used mostly for livestock feed and ethanol production. You could cook and eat both sweet corn and dent corn as corn on the cob, but the dent corn won’t be as sweet and juicy.
This activity is designed to reinforce the concept of how to calculate mean, median, mode and range on an ear of field corn. If you have access to multiple ears, you may use them, but for this activity we will provide the data from three ears of corn.
The number of kernels on an ear of corn varies depending on many factors during the growth process. Water, sunlight, soil nutrients, temperature, humidity and other factors are all important as corn is developing. Before beginning the activity have students answer the questions in the Prior to Beginning the Activity section on the worksheet.
Mean Is the average of a data set. You add up all the numbers and divide by the number in the data set. Ex:( 3, 5, 2, 7)…3+5+2+7 = 17….17 divided by 4, Answer is 4.25
Median Is the middle number in the data set. The numbers have to be listed from least to greatest. The middle number is the median.
Mode The mode is the number that appears the most. In the above examples the mode is 0. In the following data set 2, 4, 4, 5, 9, Answer is 4.
Range The range is the difference (subtraction) between the largest and smallest number. In the data set 2, 4, 4, 5, 9 ….the range is 9-2 = 7, Answer is 7
Use the Corn Worksheet to complete the following. The PowerPoint Presentation will also assist with this activity.
Watch the Counting Kernels video by Bill Johnston and complete the Counting Kernels for Calculating Corn Yields worksheet.
Answers to the worksheet problems can be found on the PDF of the lesson.
This lesson is the work product of the Kansas Corn Commission. Our lessons are written in collaboration with Kansas teachers for use in the classroom. Teachers may copy and share this curriculum. Use of this product for commercial or promotional use is prohibited without express permission of Kansas Corn.
As the need to produce more food with less resources grows, it is important that future generations have a better understanding of agriculture and how corn farming and agriculture fit into our daily lives. That’s why the Kansas Corn STEM program provides lessons to teach science through the lens of corn. We are committed to providing free materials and training to support educators.
