Data literacy is an increasingly important skill. Students learn to collect, organize, display, and interpret data using tables, bar graphs, line plots, pie charts, and other visual representations. These skills are essential for science, social studies, and everyday decision-making.

Young students begin by counting and comparing data in simple picture graphs and bar graphs. They learn to read axes, compare values, and draw conclusions. These foundational skills prepare them for more complex statistical analysis later.

Measures of central tendency — mean, median, and mode — summarize data sets with a single number. The mean (average) is the sum divided by the count. The median is the middle value. The mode is the most frequent value. Each measure tells something different about the data.

Range measures the spread of data (highest minus lowest). Understanding spread alongside center gives a more complete picture of a data set. These concepts prepare students for statistics, which is increasingly important in a data-driven world.