Are you ready?
Can you read information from a column graph or picture graph ? Look for keys or scales on a graph to help you understand what information is being presented.
Examples
Example 1
The column graph shows the number of each type of car fixed by the local mechanic.
Which car brand does the mechanic fix most often?
How many Holden or Toyota cars did the mechanic fix in total?
For column graphs:
- Check the scale of the graph. It may not always be 1.
- If there is no column drawn, it represents a value of 0.
Look at the key on a picture graph to help you understand what each image is representing.
Different graphs
This video looks at how we can display the same data different ways using different graphs.
Examples
Example 2
A group of children are going shopping and are deciding which shop to visit first. This table shows the shops the children like best.
How many children like the toy shop best?
Complete the column graph to show the same data as the table.
We can draw a new type of graph for the data shown in an existing graph. e.g. We can draw a column graph to show the same data from a picture graph.
Interpret graphs
This video shows us how to answer questions from graphs.
Examples
Example 3
The pie graph below shows the results of a class survey where students were asked to nominate their favourite food:
Which was the most popular food?
Which food was as popular as noodles?
When we use graphs, we need to figure out what it is telling us. We can use colours or pictures, or the size of a piece of the pie graph. We may also have labels on the graphs, so we need to check each graph to see what information we can use.