Picture Graph & Bar Graph Detective Lab
Become a data detective! Choose a data set, build a bar graph and picture graph, then answer questions to unlock the story hidden in the data.
Guided Experiment: Bar Graph Detective Investigation
Which category do you think has the most? Which has the least? Write your prediction.
Write your hypothesis in the Lab Report panel, then click Next.
Controls
Choose a Data Set
Bar Graph
Click cells from the bottom up to fill each bar.
Our Class Pets
Picture Graph
Key: 🐾 = 1 pet
Use + and - to count how many symbols each category has.
Data Detective Questions
How many total are there in all categories?
How many more Dogs than Fish?
How many Dogs are there?
Data Table
(0 rows)| # | Category | Count | Picture Symbols | Bar Height |
|---|
Reference Guide
Bar Graphs
A bar graph uses rectangular bars to show how many are in each category. Taller bars mean more.
Read the height of each bar to find the count. Compare bar heights to find more, fewer, or the same.
Picture Graphs
A picture graph uses symbols or pictures to represent data. Each symbol stands for a certain number.
Count the symbols in each row to find the total for that category.
Reading Data
To find "how many more": subtract the smaller number from the larger number.
To find "how many total": add all the values together.
Data Detective Tips
The category with the tallest bar (or most symbols) is the most popular or has the highest count.
Look for patterns: are the values close together or spread far apart?