Standard deviation and variance in pictures
24th January 2010
MathIsFun offers nicely illustrated pages on math, algebra, geometry and maybe more.
For example, there is a step-by-step instruction on calculating variance and standard deviation for a set of measured dog heights, with a final picture (below) illustrating one-sigma distance from the mean. Unfortunately, concepts of normal distribution and %% of data points within each sigma range are not discussed, but that might as well be too much for a nice explanation. There are also animations, like this mean machine. Overall, MathIsFun is a nice resource for younglings.