Populations and Samples Worksheet | Sampling Methods and Inferences and Answers

Populations and samples worksheet on sampling and inference

This populations and samples worksheet is a 14 page packet with 80 questions for grades 6 to 9. Students tell a population from a sample, judge whether a sampling method is fair, and use a random sample to estimate a total.

The questions begin with simple surveys, move to biased and unbiased methods, then use proportions to make inferences, and end with population parameters and sample statistics.

Teachers who need a populations and samples worksheet for a statistics unit will find four sections of 20 questions here, and the packet comes with an answer key, an answer sheet and a lesson plan.

What’s on the pages

The worksheet has four sections of 20 questions each, and each one has its own heading and directions.

• Identifying populations and samples: 12 multiple choice and 8 true or false questions, such as a librarian who surveys every 10th student and a survey of 200 voters to predict a mayoral election.
• Biased vs. unbiased sampling methods: 12 multiple choice and 8 true or false questions, such as names drawn from a jar, why a convenience sample can give biased results and which method gives every member an equal chance.
• Making inferences from random samples: 20 questions with a Word Bank, such as 12 of 50 store visitors buying a hat out of 1,500 visitors, and 35 of 100 voters out of 2,000.
• Estimating population parameters and statistics: 10 multiple choice questions and 10 short calculations, such as a mean height of 150 cm from 50 students, 4% defective bulbs in a sample of 200 out of 50,000, and an average score of 82% for all 800 students.

The proportion questions use round numbers, so students can focus on the reasoning instead of heavy arithmetic.

What’s in the download

• Student worksheet: 14 pages
• Answer key: 17 pages, with a short explanation after each answer
• Answer sheet: 4 pages
• Lesson plan: 2 pages

The four parts add up to 37 pages, and everything comes as PDF.

How to use this populations and samples worksheet

The lesson plan is set for 90 minutes, or two class sessions of 45 minutes. Its objectives are to tell populations and samples apart in practical scenarios, to identify and evaluate biased and unbiased sampling methods, to use proportional reasoning with random samples to make inferences about population totals, and to tell population parameters from sample statistics.

The plan begins with a 10 minute warm-up that introduces population versus sample and census versus random sample. The materials list the worksheet, pencils and scratch paper, calculators for the proportion work and a whiteboard with markers.

Let students suggest a survey of their own, such as favorite lunch choices, and ask who is in the population and who is in the sample. Their own examples make the vocabulary stick.

The answer sheet keeps the worksheet clean for reuse, and the answer key gives a short explanation after every answer.

Teachers who look for sampling methods practice and making inferences from random samples will find both here. The populations and samples worksheet with answer key pages also helps a helper check the work, and the biased vs unbiased sampling questions give a good start for class discussion.

Where it fits

Use it for a statistics unit, math centers, homework, intervention or a review before a test. Homeschool families can work through one section a day.

Take a look at the preview pages before you buy, so you can see the worksheet, the answer key and the answer sheet.

For more practice, browse the math worksheets, the wider set of printable worksheets or the whole shop.

Many teachers use this populations and samples worksheet in a weekly routine, one section per day, and repeat the set after a few weeks to see growth.

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