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Data and Society 9-12 / Week 07 / Wednesday
3/6
Week 07 · Picturing Data

Wednesday

Count Lab: Draw it by hand
// Bars, lines, pies and dots, drawn by hand
⏱ about 20 min

Wednesday: Count Lab: Draw It by Hand

The crew clears the big workbench and lays out graph paper, pencils and a long ruler.

Comet wants to start drawing bars right away. Wren slides the Q3 table in front of her first.

"What do you notice about the numbers?" he asks. "How tall does the y-axis need to be?"

Comet checks the table. "The biggest number is 13. So the axis has to reach at least 13."

Nova projects a faint grid onto the paper. "Would you like a hint?" she asks.

"Count your squares before you draw. One square for each member keeps every bar easy to check."

Comet sharpens her pencil. "Then let's build the most honest graph the Commons has ever seen."

Your mission

You will draw the Q3 bar graph by hand, with every part an honest graph needs.

Then you will check each bar against the table, one at a time.

  • Graph paper, or lined paper and a ruler
  • A pencil and an eraser
  • Colored pencils (optional)
  • The Q3 table below
Q3 answer (valid only)Members
Longer evening hours13
Quiet study room11
Repair bench9
Bike rack5
Total valid38

Made-up data from the Commons Count story. One blank and one invalid answer are left off the graph and noted under it.

PREDICT BEFORE YOU DRAW
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Which bar will be the tallest?
With one square for each member, how many squares tall is the bike rack bar?
How many squares taller is the quiet study room bar than the repair bench bar?
  1. Draw the x-axis along the bottom of your paper.
  2. Draw the y-axis up the left side.
  3. Number the y-axis from 0 to 14, one square for each member.
  4. Label the y-axis "Members".
  5. Write the four Q3 choices along the x-axis, leaving a gap between bars.
  6. Draw each bar up to its number in the table.
  7. Write the title at the top: What Commons members want added next.
  8. Write the source line under the graph: Commons Count survey, made-up data.
  9. Add a note: 38 valid answers; 1 blank and 1 invalid not shown.
  10. Check each bar against the table, one at a time.
On your graph paper, draw the Q3 bar graph with a title, a source line and labeled axes that start at 0.
ORDER THE BARS FROM TALLEST TO SHORTEST
  • ?Quiet study room (11)
  • ?Longer evening hours (13)
  • ?Bike rack (5)
  • ?Repair bench (9)
WHY THIS EXERCISEOrdering by size is a quick way to check that your bar heights match the table.
Lab checkTrue or false?
The longer evening hours bar is the tallest bar.?
The repair bench bar should reach 11 squares.?
The blank and invalid answers get their own bars as Q3 choices.?
The four bars add up to 38 members.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEChecking every bar against the table is how an analyst catches drawing mistakes.

Beautiful lab work, data analyst. Tomorrow you will graph change over time with a line, and look for patterns with dots.

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