Why is the bell curve so important in statistics?

In a nutshell....

A bell curve shows the general distribution of a population. This can be used to compare data with the overall data. Anything around the middle is average and the anything not considered the norm is on the outer edges of the curve. The shape and positioning of the bell curve can also be used to show how the population is skewed. This can be used to interpret the general trend in a population.

Since you are doing a midterm on this I'm guessing you need a more detailed answer but it is not up to us to do your midterm for you just to give you a nudge in the right direction... hopefully this has done that.
 
That'll be the common name for normal distribution [1].

Think of people's heights - a few really tall, a few really short, lots of average - plot that with height along the x-axis and incidence on the y-axis and you get a bell curve.
 
B/c an average of a large number of _any_ random variables follows the bell curve distribution.
 
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