VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS OF

NUMBERS AND DATA

Graphs

Main Types of Graphs

Bar Graphs Histograms Line Graphs Pie Chart

Bar Graphs

Used to present and compare data Double and group bar graphs are

popular Can be horizontal or vertical Good for comparing quantity (how much

of something) and/or changes in quantity among different groups

Bar Graphs

Bar Graph Example: Survey the class of what kind of pet they own.

Double Bar Graph Example: Survey the class about what kind of music they listen to, and what kind of music their parents listen to.

Group Bar Graph

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Histograms

Look similar to bar graphs Used to show quantity for ranges of

numbers, for example: 0-5, 6-10, 11-15, etc.

Good to show and compare how much of something there is when grouped.

Used in imaging (photography) to calculate how many of a certain color or value pixel there is.

Histogram

Example: Survey the class about how many times they check Facebook in a week. Organize the data into groups of 0-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, etc. Mark how many people fall into each group and graph.

Line Graphs

Used to show changes in data, usually over time.

Good for showing direction of change rather than amount like in a bar graph.

Key word here is TIME.

Line Graphs

Example: Track the average cost of making a movie between 1983 and 1996.

Line Graph

Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 40%

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Pie Chart

Used to show parts of a whole. Good for most things that talk about

percentages of something. Not good if there are too many pieces.

Pie Chart

Example: Find out the number of car accidents in 2009, how many were caused by teenagers, adults, and seniors. Turn those numbers into percentages.

Example: The percentage of people in the class that own an American made car vs foreign made or no car.

Pie Chart

Sales

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