Interpret stem-and-leaf plots

Key Notes:

📚 In a stem-and-leaf plot, the stem tells the first part of the number and the leaf tells the last digit of the number.

Learn with an example

✈️ Leroy’s P.E. class participated in a press-up competition, and Leroy wrote down how many press-ups each person could do.

Press-up competition (number of press-ups)
 Stem  Leaf 
2     4
3     5 8
4    
5     8
6     1 3 4
7    
8     5

✈️ How many people did at least 45 press-ups?

___ people

  • Find the row with stem 4. Count all the leaves greater than or equal to 5.
Press-up competition (number of press-ups)
 Stem  Leaf 
2     4
3     5 8
4    
5     8
6     1 3 4
7    
8     5
  • Count all the leaves in the rows with stems 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Press-up competition (number of press-ups)
 Stem  Leaf 
2     4
3     5 8
4    
5     8
6     1 3 4
7    
8     5
  • You counted 5 leaves, which are blue in the stem-and-leaf plots above. 5 people did at least 45 press-ups.

✈️ Ashley, a journalism student, counted the number of pages in several major magazines.

Pages per magazine
 Stem  Leaf 
1     4 8
2     0 2 2 5 5 6 9 9
3     0 1 4 5 5 7
4     5 8
5    
6     6 6 8

✈️ How many magazines had at least 30 pages but less than 70 pages?

_____magazines

  • Count all the leaves in the rows with stems 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Pages per magazine
 Stem  Leaf 
1     4 8
2     0 2 2 5 5 6 9 9
3     0 1 4 5 5 7
4     5 8
5    
6     6 6 8
  • You counted 11 leaves, which are blue in the stem-and-leaf plot above. 11 magazines had at least 30 pages but less than 70 pages.

✈️ Joseph found out the sizes of all the clubs at his school.

Club sizes (number of members)
 Stem  Leaf 
3     1 6
4     1 2 2
5     8
6    
7     7 9
8     4 8 9
9     0

✈️ How many clubs have fewer than 77 members?

_____ clubs

  • Count all the leaves in the rows with stems 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Club sizes (number of members)
 Stem  Leaf 
3     1 6
4     1 2 2
5     8
6    
7     7 9
8     4 8 9
9     0
  • In the row with stem 7, count all the leaves less than 7.
Club sizes (number of members)
 Stem  Leaf 
3     1 6
4     1 2 2
5     8
6    
7     7 9
8     4 8 9
9     0
  • You counted 6 leaves, which are blue in the stem-and-leaf plots above. 6 clubs have fewer than 77 members.

Let’s practice!🖊️