IB Biology HL 3.2.15 Box-and-Whisker Plots
Practise analysing HL box plots to compare medians, ranges and outliers, calculate differences and justify conclusions from biological datasets.
- Syllabus
- First assessment 2025
- Course
- Biology HL
- Level
- HL
Practise analysing HL box plots to compare medians, ranges and outliers, calculate differences and justify conclusions from biological datasets.
Male and female human skeletons obtained from different archaeological sites in Greece were studied in order to find trends in human height evolution in Europe. The box-and
whisker plots show heights of skeletons dating from two historical periods: Neolithic (6500-3000 BC) and Roman (146-324 AD).

Using the graph,
Using the box-and-whisker plot, estimate the median height of females in the Roman period.
157;
Marking guidance:
Accept range between 156 and 158
Using the box-and-whisker plot, estimate the maximum height of males in the Neolithic period.
168;
Marking guidance:
Accept range between 167 and 169
State the reason that some of the data points were plotted outside the whiskers.
a. they are outliers;
b. (both values) are more than 1.5 times the interquartile range/IQR above the third/ upper quartile/maximum height;
1
Marking guidance:
max