A.

FURMATHS: CORE, Data Distributions B.

Graphs - Stem/Leaf and Boxplots C.
Graphs - Histograms and Other D.
Summary Statistics E.

Teacher: Dora Verrocchi

Exam Equivalent Time: 87.75 minutes (based on VCE allocation of 2.25 min/mark for FUR1, and
1.5 min/mark for FUR2)
Part 3
The table below shows the forearm circumference, in centimetres, of a sample of 10 people
selected from this group of 252 people.
Questions
Circumference 26.0 27.8 28.4 25.9 28.3 31.5 28.2 25.9 27.9 27.8
1. CORE, FUR1 2017 VCAA 1-3 MC
The mean, , and the standard deviation, , of the forearm circumference for this sample of
The boxplot below shows the distribution of the forearm circumference, in centimetres, of
people are closest to
252 people.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

2. CORE, FUR1 2006 VCAA 1-3 MC

The back-to-back ordered stemplot below shows the distribution of maximum temperatures
20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 (in °Celsius) of two towns, Beachside and Flattown, over 21 days in January.
circumference (cm)

Part 1
The percentage of these 252 people with a forearm circumference of less than 30 cm is
closest to
A.
B.
C.
D. Part 1

E. The variables
temperature (°Celsius), and
town (Beachside or Flattown), are
Part 2
A. both categorical variables.
The five-number summary for the forearm circumference of these 252 people is closest to
B. both numerical variables.
C. categorical and numerical variables respectively. 3. CORE, FUR1 2008 VCAA 5 MC
D. numerical and categorical variables respectively.
A sample of 14 people were asked to indicate the time (in hours) they had spent watching
E. neither categorical nor numerical variables. television on the previous night. The results are displayed in the dot plot below.

Part 2
For Beachside, the range of maximum temperatures is
A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct to one decimal place, the mean and standard deviation of these times are
E. respectively
A.
Part 3 B.
The distribution of maximum temperatures for Flattown is best described as C.
A. negatively skewed. D.
B. positively skewed. E.
C. positively skewed with outliers.
D. approximately symmetric.
E. approximately symmetric with outliers.
4. CORE, FUR1 2012 VCAA 7 MC 5. CORE, FUR1 2015 VCAA 1 MC
The table below shows the percentage of students in two age groups (15–19 years and 20– The stem plot below displays the average number of decayed teeth in 12-year-old children
24 years) who regularly use the internet at one or more of three locations. from countries.
at home
at an educational institution
at work

For the students surveyed, which one of the following statements, by itself, supports the
contention that the location of internet use is associated with the age group of the internet
user?
A. 85% of students aged 15–19 years used the internet at an educational institution.
Based on this stem plot, the distribution of the average number of decayed teeth for these
B. 95% of students aged 15–19 years used the internet at home, but only 38% of 15–19 countries is best described as
year olds used it at work.
A. negatively skewed with a median of 15 decayed teeth and a range of 45
C. 95% of students aged 15–19 years used the internet at home and 18% of 20–24 year
B. positively skewed with a median of 15 decayed teeth and a range of 45
olds used the internet at an educational institution.
C. approximately symmetric with a median of 1.5 decayed teeth and a range of 4.5
D. The percentage of students who used the internet at an educational institution
decreased from 85% for those aged 15–19 years to 18% for those aged 20–24 years. D. negatively skewed with a median of 1.5 decayed teeth and a range of 4.5
E. The percentage of students who used the internet at home was 95% for those aged E. positively skewed with a median of 1.5 decayed teeth and a range of 4.5
15–19 years and 95% for those aged 20–24 years.
6. CORE, FUR1 2015 VCAA 3 MC The shape of the distribution is best described as
A. symmetric.
The dot plot below displays the difference between female and male life expectancy, in
years, for a sample of 20 countries. B. negatively skewed.
C. negatively skewed with outliers.
D. positively skewed.
E. positively skewed with outliers.

The mean ( ) and standard deviation ( ) for this data are

Part 3
A. The number of customers who spent more than 90 seconds moving along this aisle is
B. closest to
A.
C.
B.
D.
C.
E.
D.
E.
7. CORE, FUR1 2008 VCAA 1-4 MC
The box plot below shows the distribution of the time, in seconds, that 79 customers spent Part 4
moving along a particular aisle in a large supermarket.
From the box plot, it can be concluded that the median time spent moving along the
supermarket aisle is
A. less than the mean time.
B. equal to the mean time.
C. greater than the mean time
D. half of the interquartile range.
E. one quarter of the range.

Part 1
8. CORE, FUR1 2010 VCAA 1-3 MC
The longest time, in seconds, spent moving along this aisle is closest to
To test the temperature control on an oven, the control is set to 180°C and the oven is
A.
heated for 15 minutes.
B. The temperature of the oven is then measured. Three hundred ovens were tested in this
way. Their temperatures were recorded and are displayed below using both a histogram and
C.
a boxplot.
D.
E.

Part 2
 B.
C.
D.
E.

9. CORE, FUR1 2014 VCAA 3-5 MC

The following table shows the data collected from a sample of seven drivers who entered a
supermarket car park. The variables in the table are:
• distance – the distance that each driver travelled to the supermarket from their home
• sex – the sex of the driver (female, male)
• number of children – the number of children in the car
• type of car – the type of car (sedan, wagon, other)
• postcode – the postcode of the driver’s home.

Part 1
A total of 300 ovens were tested and their temperatures were recorded.
The number of these temperatures that lie between 179°C and 181°C is closest to
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Part 1
Part 2 The mean, , and the standard deviation, , of the variable, distance, are closest to
The interquartile range for temperature is closest to A.
A. B.
B. C.
C. D.
D. E.
E.
Part 2
Part 3 The number of categorical variables in this data set is
Using the rule, the standard deviation for temperature is closest to A.
A. B.
 C. 11. CORE, FUR2 2011 VCAA 1
D.
The stemplot in Figure 1 shows the distribution of the average age, in years, at which
E. women first marry in 17 countries.

Part 3
The number of female drivers with three children in the car is
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

a. For these countries, determine

10. CORE, FUR1 2014 VCAA 8 MC i. the lowest average age of women at first marriage (1 mark)

A single back-to-back stem plot would be an appropriate graphical tool to investigate the ii. the median average age of women at first marriage (1 mark)
association between a car’s speed, in kilometres per hour, and the
The stemplot in Figure 2 shows the distribution of the average age, in years, at which men
A. driver’s age, in years. first marry in 17 countries.
B. car’s colour (white, red, grey, other).
C. car’s fuel consumption, in kilometres per litre.
D. average distance travelled, in kilometres.
E. driver’s sex (female, male).

b. For these countries, determine the interquartile range (IQR) for the average age of men at
first marriage. (1 mark)
c. If the data values displayed in Figure 2 were used to construct a boxplot with outliers, then
the country for which the average age of men at first marriage is 26.0 years would be
shown as an outlier.
Explain why is this so. Show an appropriate calculation to support your explanation. (2
marks)
12. CORE, FUR2 2015 VCAA 2
The parallel boxplots below compare the distribution of life expectancy for 183 countries for
the years 1953, 1973 and 1993.

a. Describe the shape of the distribution of life expectancy for 1973. (1 mark)

b. Explain why life expectancy for these countries is associated with the year. Refer to
specific statistical values in your answer. (2 marks)

13. CORE, FUR2 2006 VCAA 1 a. Complete Table 2 by calculating the standard deviation of the heights of the 18-month-old
boys.
Table 1 shows the heights (in cm) of three groups of randomly chosen boys aged 18 months, Write your answer correct to one decimal place. (1 mark)
27 months and 36 months respectively.

A 27-month-old boy has a height of 83.1 cm.

b. Calculate his standardised height ( score) relative to this sample of 27-month-old boys.
Write your answer correct to one decimal place. (1 mark)

The heights of the 36-month-old boys are normally distributed.

A 36-month-old boy has a standardised height of 2.
c. Approximately what percentage of 36-month-old boys will be shorter than this child? (1
mark)
percentage = __________
Using the data from Table 1, boxplots have been constructed to display the distributions of
heights of 36-month-old and 27-month-old boys as shown below.
 There are no outliers in this distribution.
i. Use the five-number summary above to construct a boxplot on the grid below. (1 mark)

d. Complete the display by constructing and drawing a boxplot that shows the distribution of
heights for the 18-month-old boys. (2 marks)
e. Use the appropriate boxplot to determine the median height (in centimetres) of the 27-
month-old boys. (1 mark)
The three parallel boxplots suggest that height and age (18 months, 27 months, 36 months)
are positively related.
ii. What percentage of days had a maximum temperature of 21°C, or greater, in this
f. Explain why, giving reference to an appropriate statistic. (1 mark) particular February? (1 mark)
b. The boxplots below display the distribution of maximum daily temperature for the months of
May and July.

14. CORE, FUR2 2016 VCAA 2

A weather station records daily maximum temperatures
a. The five-number summary for the distribution of maximum temperatures for the month of
February is displayed in the table below.

i. Describe the shapes of the distributions of daily temperature (including outliers) for
 July and for May. (1 mark) 16. CORE, FUR2 2012 VCAA 3
July ___________________________________________
A weather station records the wind speed and the wind direction each day at 9.00 am.
May ___________________________________________
The wind speed is recorded, correct to the nearest whole number.
ii. Determine the value of the upper fence for the July boxplot. (1 mark)
The parallel boxplots below have been constructed from data that was collected on the 214
iii. Using the information from the boxplots, explain why the maximum daily temperature
days from June to December in 2011.
is associated with the month of the year. Quote the values of appropriate statistics in
your response. (1 mark)

15. CORE, FUR2 2017 VCAA 1

The number of eggs counted in a sample of 12 clusters of moth eggs is recorded in the table
below.

Number of eggs 172 192 159 125 197 135 140 140 138 166 136 131

a. From the information given, determine

i. the range (1 mark)

ii. the percentage of clusters in this sample that contain more than 170 eggs. (1 mark)

In a large population of moths, the number of eggs per cluster is approximately normally
distributed with a mean of 165 eggs and a standard deviation of 25 eggs.
b. Using the 68–95–99.7% rule, determine
i. the percentage of clusters expected to contain more than 140 eggs (1 mark)

ii. the number of clusters expected to have less than 215 eggs in a sample of 1000
clusters. (1 mark) a. Complete the following statements.
c. The standardised number of eggs in one cluster is given by The wind direction with the lowest recorded wind speed was ________.
Determine the actual number of eggs in this cluster. (1 mark) The wind direction with the largest range of recorded wind speeds was _______. (1 mark)

b. The wind blew from the south on eight days.

Reading from the parallel boxplots above we know that, for these eight wind speeds, the

first quartile

median

third quartile
Given that the eight wind speeds were recorded to the nearest whole number, write
down the eight wind speeds. (1 mark)

VCE Mathematics examination questions reproduced by permission, VCAA. VCE is a registered trademark of the VCAA. The
VCAA does not endorse or make any warranties regarding this study resource. Current and past VCE exams and related
content can be accessed directly at www.vcaa.vic.edu.au.
Worked Solutions 2. CORE, FUR1 2006 VCAA 1-3 MC

1. CORE, FUR1 2017 VCAA 1-3 MC

3. CORE, FUR1 2008 VCAA 5 MC

4. CORE, FUR1 2012 VCAA 7 MC 7. CORE, FUR1 2008 VCAA 1-4 MC

5. CORE, FUR1 2015 VCAA 1 MC

♦ Mean mark 43%.
MARKERS' COMMENT: Note
that the outliers are already
accounted for in the boxplot.

6. CORE, FUR1 2015 VCAA 3 MC

8. CORE, FUR1 2010 VCAA 1-3 MC 9. CORE, FUR1 2014 VCAA 3-5 MC

♦♦ Mean mark 29%.

MARKER'S NOTE: Postcodes
here are categorical variables.
Ask yourself "Does it make
sense to calculate the mean of
this variable?" If the answer is
"No", the variable is
categorical.

10. CORE, FUR1 2014 VCAA 8 MC

♦ Mean mark 43%.

♦♦ Mean mark 28%.
11. CORE, FUR2 2011 VCAA 1
a.i.
b.
a.ii.

b.

c. ♦♦ MARKER'S
COMMENT: Attention required
here as this standard question
was "very poorly answered".

c.

MARKER'S COMMENT: Many

students correctly calculated
28.25 but then failed to discuss
how 26.0 related to it.

d.
12. CORE, FUR2 2015 VCAA 2
a.

b.

♦ Mean mark 45%.

MARKER'S COMMENT:
Means are typically not
discernible from a box plot
(unless the data is perfectly
symmetrical) and shouldn't be
referred to.

13. CORE, FUR2 2006 VCAA 1

a. e.
 MARKER'S COMMENT: A
boxplot statistic was required,
f. so mean values were not a.ii.
relevant.

14. CORE, FUR2 2016 VCAA 2

a.i.
b.i.

68%
16% 16%
−1 1 z-score

a.ii.

b.i. MARKER'S
COMMENT: Incorrect May b.ii.
descriptors included "evenly or
normally distributed", "bell
shaped" and "symmetrically
skewed."
b.ii.

2.5% 2.5%
95%

−2 2 z-score

b.iii. ♦♦ Mean mark (b)(iii) - 30%.

COMMENT: Refer to the
difference in medians. Just
quoting the numbers was not
enough to gain a mark here.

c.

15. CORE, FUR2 2017 VCAA 1

a.i.
16. CORE, FUR2 2012 VCAA 3
a.

b.

♦♦ MARKER'S COMMENT:
Although specific data isn't
available, "few" students
answered this part correctly.

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