Module 5 Handling data
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Can I create and interpret bar charts?

Example review questions

A table with two columns: Colour and Number of bikes. Green, red, blue and pink are in the colour column, and the numbers 4, 7, 12 and 3 are in the number of bikes column.
  • Robbie collected some information about the colours of some bikes. Here are his results.The bar graph shows the information from the table. Fill in all the missing labels and numbers.

A bar chart with number of bikes on the y axis and colour on the x axis. The bars have been entered, but the labels are yet to be added.
  • ‘There are more red bikes than green and pink together.’ Is this statement true?
  • How could you change the bar chart to show 40 green, 70 red, 120 blue and 30 pink bikes?

Teaching guidance

This teaching guidance document suggests some of the key vocabulary, models, images and practical equipment that children should experience and be able to use. It also includes some teaching tips to provide a few starting points for ways of supporting children with this area of mathematics.

DOC file Can I create and interpret bar charts? - teaching guidance | 465KB new window

Consolidation and practice

These resources are to support children in guided or independent work. Roll over the highlighted resource for a description.

SWF file Handy graph | 283KB new window

PDF file How to use data handling ITP | 156KB new window

SWF file Data handling ITP | 57KB new window

Data handling

itp_data_handling.png

This interactive teaching program (ITP) is an ICT-based tool to support the exploration of data. Data handling ITP allows the child or teacher to enter data into a table and then create a vertical bar chart, a horizontal bar chart or a pie chart. The user can select from existing datasets, which can then be amended to show the impact and change on the charts, or they can enter collected data.

Opportunities to use and apply

Possible contexts include:

  • science, e.g. Investigate the number of different kinds of minibeast in a garden and decide how to represent this (table, pictogram, bar chart); answer questions, using the data.
  • ICT, e.g. Discuss with the class how they can find out whether the balance between boys and girls in their class is the same as for the school as a whole. Enter the number of boys and girls for the class and for the school into a data-handling package to produce two bar charts (one for the class and one for the school) and make comparisons. Discuss the difficulties in comparing the graphs.
  • secondary information, e.g. Use and interpret examples of bar charts from brochures, magazines and newspapers.

Confirming learning

Ask probing questions such as:

  • In the 2008 Olympics the USA won 36 gold medals. Is that more or less than in 2004? How many more or less?
  • What labels would you add to the axes of this graph?
  • How would you work out how many gold medals Britain won in 2004?
A bar chart to represent the number of gold medals won by various countries in the 2004 Olympics.