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Week 10 · Seasons and Migration

Thursday

Build a bar graph
// Reading the months as data
⏱ about 15 min

Thursday: Build a Bar Graph

Rocket lines up stacks of blocks on the bench. One stack is tall, one is short.

"This is my bird count," he says. "Each block is one bird I saw."

Raven grins. "You built a bar graph without paper!"

Nova hovers over the tallest stack. "A graph shows the biggest number fast," she says. "Now add labels so anyone can read it."

What a bar graph shows

A bar graph is a picture of data. Each bar stands for one group.

The taller the bar, the bigger the number. You can compare groups at a glance.

Every bar graph needs four parts: a title, labels, a scale and the bars.

The title says what the graph is about.

The labels under the bars say what each bar counts.

The scale is the set of numbers along the side. It tells what each step is worth.

A scale can go up by ones, twos, fives or tens. Pick a step that fits your biggest number.

Here is a table of pretend data. Rocket counted birds in the yard for four weeks.

WeekBirds counted
Week 14
Week 26
Week 310
Week 42

To graph it, Rocket drew four bars, one for each week.

His scale went up by twos: 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10.

The Week 3 bar was the tallest. It reached 10. The Week 4 bar was the shortest.

READ ROCKET'S GRAPH
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Which week had the tallest bar?
How many more birds did Rocket count in Week 3 than in Week 4?
Rocket's scale went up by twos. Where would a bar for 6 birds stop?
The numbers along the side of a graph are called the ____.
In a bar graph, a taller bar means a ____ number.
The part of a graph that says what it is about is the ____.

Make your own

Now graph your own sightings. Use the counts from your field notebook, or count this week.

Count birds, insects or any living things you choose. Count the same way each time.

  1. Draw an L shape on graph paper or plain paper.
  2. Write a title at the top, like "Birds I saw this week".
  3. Along the bottom, write one label for each day or group you counted.
  4. Up the side, write a scale. Start at 0 and go up by ones or twos.
  5. Draw one bar for each label. Stop each bar at its number.
  6. Color the bars. Check that the tallest bar matches your biggest count.
STEPS TO BUILD A BAR GRAPH
  • ?Collect your counts in a table.
  • ?Choose a scale that fits the biggest number.
  • ?Draw a bar for each label.
  • ?Write a title and the labels.
WHY THIS EXERCISECounts come first. Then the title, labels and scale make the bars readable.
StatementTrue or false?
A bar graph is a picture of data.?
A shorter bar means a bigger number.?
A scale can go up by twos or fives.?
A graph does not need a title.?
WHY THIS EXERCISETall bars mean big numbers, and a title and scale make the graph readable.
Draw your bar graph here. Give it a title, labels and a scale.

Beautiful bars! Tomorrow we put months and graphs together and look for the season pattern.

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