Box plots worksheets

A box plot says five things about a set of numbers and nothing else, and knowing which five is most of what there is to learn. These free printable worksheets ask for each of them off a drawn diagram: the smallest, the quartiles, the median and the largest.

Kid stuck on one? You don’t just get the sheet.

Box plots
Box plots worksheet — Five-number summary, free printable with answer key

The answer key prints on a separate page.

What's on this sheet

The five-number summary splits the data into four equal parts, so each section of the plot holds a quarter of the values however wide or narrow it looks. That is the thing to say out loud, because a long whisker looks like "most of them are up here" and means the exact opposite — the values there are spread out, not numerous.

Why this sheet works

The box itself is the middle half, and its width is the interquartile range. It is the most useful single number on the diagram and the one a child is least likely to reach for, since it has to be worked out rather than read.

How this one works

One question from this sheet, worked through a step at a time.

Height of the sunflowers (cm)

left whisker end:15 cm
left whisker end:15 cm
left edge of the box:25 cm
left whisker end:15 cm
left edge of the box:25 cm
line inside the box:30 cm
left whisker end:15 cm
left edge of the box:25 cm
line inside the box:30 cm
right edge of the box:45 cm
left whisker end:15 cm
left edge of the box:25 cm
line inside the box:30 cm
right edge of the box:45 cm
right whisker end:60 cm
left whisker end:15 cm
left edge of the box:25 cm
line inside the box:30 cm
right edge of the box:45 cm
right whisker end:60 cm
left whisker end:15 cm
left edge of the box:25 cm
line inside the box:30 cm
right edge of the box:45 cm
right whisker end:60 cm
25 cm
  1. A box plot is five numbers drawn to scale — not a bar, and nothing here is a total. Read the five marks off one at a time, and the question answers itself.
  2. Left whisker end: 15 cm — the smallest value.
  3. Left edge of the box: 25 cm — the quarter mark — a quarter of the data is below it.
  4. Line inside the box: 30 cm — the MEDIAN, not the mean and not the middle of the box's width.
  5. Right edge of the box: 45 cm — the three-quarter mark.
  6. Right whisker end: 60 cm — the largest value.
  7. Now the question. It is asking for the left edge of the box, and that has already been read off — no arithmetic is owed.
  8. So the answer is 25 cm. Nothing is added or averaged — a box plot is read, not calculated.