7th grade · Math · Unit 15 of 16
Samples & Populations
Random samples and estimates
What your child practices
Telling a sample from a population, choosing a fair random sample, and using sample results to estimate for a whole population.
Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 7.SP.A.1; 7.SP.A.2 · using random samples to draw inferences about a population
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- The population is the whole group. A sample is part of it.
- A random sample gives everyone an equal chance to be picked.
- Use the sample's fraction to estimate for the population.
Example: In a random sample of 50 students, 10 bike to school. About how many of 400 students bike? 10/50 = 1/5. 1/5 of 400 = 80. Answer: About 80
Samples & Populations in Arizona
In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 15 of 16 in 7th grade Math, after Angle Relationships and before Scale Drawings.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
Source: Arizona Department of Education
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
A park ranger tags 30 of the deer in a park to study them. What is the population?
- all the deer in the park
- the trees in the park
- the 30 tagged deer
- the park rangers
all the deer in the park
Hint: The population is the whole group you want to learn about. The sample is the part you actually check.
Question 2
In a random sample of 40 students, 29 have a library card. About how many of the 280 students at the school have a library card?
- 77
- 243
- 290
- 203
203
Hint: 29 out of 40 is 29/40. 29/40 × 280 = 203.
Question 3
You want to know how many hours teens in a town spend online. Which sample is most likely to represent the population?
- 100 teens chosen at random from the town's high schools
- 100 teens at a video game store
- the 100 teens who answer an online poll
- 100 members of the town's running club
100 teens chosen at random from the town's high schools
Hint: A random sample from the whole population gives everyone the same chance to be picked.
Question 4
One random sample has 20 people and another has 200. Which estimate of the population is likely to be closer?
- The sample of 200
- They will always be exactly the same
- The sample of 20
The sample of 200
Hint: Bigger random samples usually vary less, so their estimates tend to be closer.
Question 5
A park ranger tags 30 of the deer in a park to study them. What is the population?
- the park rangers
- the 30 tagged deer
- all the deer in the park
- the trees in the park
all the deer in the park
Hint: The population is the whole group you want to learn about. The sample is the part you actually check.
Question 6
One random sample has 30 people and another has 200. Which estimate of the population is likely to be closer?
- They will always be exactly the same
- The sample of 200
- The sample of 30
The sample of 200
Hint: Bigger random samples usually vary less, so their estimates tend to be closer.