K-5 friendly lesson
One small step at a time.Read the idea, try the activity, and celebrate each win as you go.
Create bar graphs
Be a data artist! π¨ Let's take information from a table and turn it into a cool bar graph. You get to draw the bars and show the story of the data!
Do this: Read the concept below, then try the quiz or activity.
Lesson 97 of 186
Concept
Creating a bar graph means you are the one organizing the data into a visual chart. You take information from a list or table and represent it with bars.
Steps to Create a Bar Graph:
1. Get your data: Start with a table of information. For example:
* Favorite Fruit
* Apple: 5
* Banana: 7
* Orange: 3
2. Draw your axes: Draw an 'L' shape.
3. Label the categories: Along the bottom line (horizontal axis), write the names of the fruit: Apple, Banana, Orange. Give them some space.
4. Create a scale: On the side line (vertical axis), write numbers starting from 0 at the bottom. Count up by ones (0, 1, 2, 3...) until you get past your biggest number (which is 7).
5. Draw the bars:
* For 'Apple', the number is 5. Start at the 'Apple' label and draw a bar that goes up to the line for the number 5.
* For 'Banana', the number is 7. Draw a bar that goes up to the 7.
* For 'Orange', the number is 3. Draw a bar that goes up to the 3.
6. Give it a title: At the very top, write a title for your graph, like "Favorite Fruits".Key Idea: You are turning a boring list of numbers into a picture that is easy to understand at a glance. The height of your bar must match the number in the data table exactly!
Try it
Practice: Create bar graphs.