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The Mean Average: Fair Shares at the Funfair

The Mean Average: Fair Shares at the Funfair

Learn how to find the mean average by levelling towers, adding and dividing, and comparing teams in a funfair game for Year 6 maths.

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What you'll learn

  • The mean is the fair share when amounts are levelled out
  • Calculate the mean: add the values, then divide by how many
  • Why a zero still counts as a value
  • A mean can be a decimal or not one of the values
  • Compare groups of different sizes using means, not totals
  • Use mean × how many to find a total or missing value

Chapter by chapter

  1. The mean as a fair share: levelling out

    Year 6 maths · 1

  2. Calculating the mean: add up, then divide

    Year 6 maths · 1

  3. Interpreting the mean: what it tells you and comparing groups

    Year 6 maths · 1

  4. Mean Master challenge: calculate and interpret the mean (8 questions)

What the chapters cover in the national curriculum in England:

  1. Year 6 maths: Calculate and interpret the mean as an average

About this adventure

The Mean Average: Fair Shares at the Funfair is an interactive maths game that teaches children aged 9–11 how to calculate the mean and explain what it tells you, matching the Year 6 statistics objective in England. Children visit stalls at a funfair with Mo the robot as their guide.

Players first drag cubes between friends' towers until every tower is the same height, seeing that the mean is the fair share and that the total never changes. They then calculate means step by step: find the total, count how many values there are (zeros included), then divide.

Later stalls show that a mean can be a decimal and need not be one of the values. Children compare teams of different sizes, work back from a mean to a missing number, and see how one very large value pulls the mean up. Every line is read aloud, and an optional warm-up recaps adding and sharing equally.

Questions and answers

How do you find the mean of a set of numbers?

Add all the numbers together to get the total, then divide by how many numbers there are. For example, the mean of 6, 9, 5 and 8 is 28 divided by 4, which is 7.

What does the mean tell you, in simple words?

The mean tells you the fair share each one would get if everything were shared out equally. It gives a typical amount for a group, even though some values are higher and some are lower.

Do you count zero when working out the mean?

Yes, a zero is still a value, so you count it when you divide. Goals of 3, 0, 2, 4 and 1 make 10 over 5 matches, so the mean is 2, not 2.5.

What age is this mean average game for?

It is designed for children aged 9 to 11 and matches the Year 6 statistics objective to calculate and interpret the mean. Younger confident children can start with the optional warm-up on adding and sharing equally.

What does the game include and how long does it take?

It has an optional warm-up, three chapters and an eight-question final challenge, taking about 35 minutes to play through. Questions use typed answers and multiple choice, with spoken explanations when an answer is wrong.

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