A sample of heights of trees follows a normal distribution. In this sample, 68% of height measurements are expected to fall in the interval: \[ \text{mean} \pm \underline{\hspace{1cm}} \text{ standard deviation.} \] (Round off to the nearest integer.)
Step 1: Understand the concept of 68% range.
For any normally distributed dataset, the interval covering 68% of the data will be within one standard deviation on either side of the mean. This means the range is defined by:
\[
\text{mean} \pm 1 \times \text{standard deviation.}
\]
Step 2: Applying the formula.
The data provided indicates that 68% of the values fall within this range. So, to express the interval mathematically, we use:
\[
\text{Interval} = \text{mean} \pm 1 \times \sigma
\]
where \( \sigma \) is the standard deviation of the dataset. This allows us to understand the variability or spread of data around the mean.
Step 3: Conclusion.
Thus, the interval containing 68% of the data points will be from \( \text{mean} - \sigma \) to \( \text{mean} + \sigma \), and the range is simply the standard deviation from the mean.

