someone please explain Standard Deviation to me.

Question

First of all, an example; mean age of the children in a test is 12.93, with a standard deviation of .76.

Now, maybe I am just over thinking this, but everything I Google gives me this big convoluted explanation of what standard deviation is without addressing the kiddy pool I’m standing in.

Edit: you guys have been fantastic! This has all helped tremendously, if I could hug you all I would.

In: Mathematics

Answer 1

At one restaurant they cook their steaks perfectly every time. At another restaurant it’s a crapshoot whether your steak is served raw or burnt to a crisp. At both restaurants the average steak is cooked perfectly. The first restaurant has less variance/less standard deviation and the second restaurant has greater variance/standard deviation.