A box plot is a graph that is useful for very large data sets that are too

unwieldy for a stem and leaf or line plot. A box plot summarizes the data
to only five numbers -- the median, upper and lower quartiles, and
minimum and maximum values. It provides a quick visual summary that
easily shows center, spread, range and any outliers.
When we want to compare two or more sets of data, we make side-byside boxplots. This statistical graph is very efficient in comparing center
and spread of two or more data sets. We can immediately visualize the ranges,
medians, and "shapes" of each data set.

5-Number Summary
The median is found by listing the data values in increasing order, and finding the center
value. If there is an even number of data values, find the average of the two center
values. This number forms the interior line of the box.
The lower quartile (Q1) is found by considering only the bottom half of the data, below
the median. Find the median, or middle value, of this part of the data. The lower quartile
number forms the bottom line of the box. The upper quartile (Q3) is the median of the
upper half of the data, above the median. The upper quartile number forms the top line
of the box. Connect these three lines to form the sides of the box.
The minimum and maximum values can be read right off the list of data values. If there
are no outliers, these numbers form the ends of the whiskers of the graph, and are
connected to the upper and lower quartile lines.

Outliers
Sometimes a data set will have one or more outliers. An outlier can be detected by
finding the value of 1.5*(IQR); then subtracting this number from the lower quartile, and
adding it to the upper quartile. This is the maximum range of the whiskers of the graph,
a theoretical "fence" of the range data. Any data values falling outside this "fence" are
considered outliers. They are labeled on the graph with an asterisk. There can be
outliers above or below, or multiple outliers in a data set.

http://math.youngzones.org/boxplot.html