Bar Graph | Elementary

Bar Graph - Cycle 3

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What Is a Bar Graph?
What Are the Parts of a Bar Graph?
How Do We Interpret a Bar Graph?
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What Is a Bar Graph?

Definition

A bar graph presents the results of a survey using bars.

For example:

What Are the Parts of a Bar Graph?

A bar graph always has a title which introduces the subject of a survey.

Example

The title indicates that this bar graph represents the number of t-shirts of each colour in a 5th grade class.

A bar graph has 2 axes: a horizontal axis and a vertical axis. Each axis has a label that indicates what it represents.

Example

In the following graph, the horizontal axis represents the colour of the t-shirts. The vertical axis represents the number of t-shirts.

The scale on the vertical axis contains equal intervals.

Example

The interval between the numbers on the vertical axis is +2.

In a bar graph, the data (results) are represented using bars. The number associated with the height of the bar indicates the amount of data in each category.

Examples

The number associated with the height of the purple bar indicates that there are 4 purple t-shirts. The height of the red bar indicates that there are 8 red t-shirts.

Example of the number associated with the height of a bar.

How Do We Interpret a Bar Graph?

To interpret a bar graph, analyze each part of the graph while keeping in mind the question asked.

Example

How many students prefer mozzarella cheese?

I locate the bar that represents mozzarella. The mozzarella category is represented by the orange bar.
I observe the height of the orange bar and the number associated with it. The height of the orange bar is between 8 and 10. Since the bar is halfway between 8 and 10, there are 9 students.

9 students prefer mozzarella cheese.

Example

How many students are there in this 3rd grade class?

I examine the height of each bar and the number associated with it.
The number associated with the height of the blue bar indicates that 4 people prefer brie.
The number associated with the height of the pink bar indicates that 12 people prefer cheddar.
The height of the orange bar is between 8 and 10. Since the bar is halfway between 8 and 10, the number of students is 9. So, 9 students prefer mozzarella.
The number associated with the height of the green bar indicates that 2 people prefer parmesan.

Add the data from each category.

4 + 12 + 9 + 2 = 27

There are 27 students in this class.

What Is a Bar Graph?

What Are the Parts of a Bar Graph?

How Do We Interpret a Bar Graph?

See Also