my 10 yr old son brought home work about stem and leaf plots. i have no idea what it is or how to sove the problem. the problem asked is what is the least number of dogs at a dog show and i don't know how to read the graph

I had the same problem on the SAT (Standard Achievement Test) last year. My dad explained it, but basically said it's a dumber, slower, more tedious way of doing the average of something. So, basically if a chart said like...

1 8
2 12
6 4
10 3

it's saying that there is one group of 8 dogs or whatever, 2 groups of 12 dogs (total would be 24), 6 groups of 4 (total would be 24), and 10 groups of 3 (total: 30), etc.

Does that help you? Someone else might be able to explain it better, but that should get you started. To find the average of the chart I gave you, by the way, you would add all of the totals up and divide by the total number of the left column added up.

I hope I didn't further confuse you! :)

that helps me alot, do u know what i do if the leaf has more than 1 number

Like how? Could you give me an example? (Type your "chart" similar to me - with a big space to indicate the separation between the two columns?

I may be able to help you if you show me an example.

By the way, I am very sorry you are feeling confused! I know the feeling.

oops! I sent that same message twice. Sorry. 'My bad!

Can you type the chart for me so I can see what you mean by "more than one leaf"? Thank you.

Thank you, Dr. Bob! I hope you are unconfused now, "Confused Mom". Sorry I couldn't completely answer your questions, but I'm glad I got you started in the right direction! :) Have a great day, and I hope your son does well on his math homework. :)

1 6 2 0 2 4

2 5 2 9 5
3 1 6 6
the questions is what is the least number of dogs at a show