Lesson 8 of 8 · Grades 3 to 5
Practice: Making a good graph
Ten good graph questions: choosing a scale, reading the steps, checking a bar against its data and fixing a graph that misleads.
How to use this page
This page gives you ten more questions on the same idea as the lesson "Making a good graph". Work through them at your own speed. Write your answer down or say it out loud before you open the answer box, so you give yourself a real chance to think.
If a question feels hard, go back to the lesson and look at the worked example again. Getting a question wrong is useful; it shows you the part that needs one more look.
Practice questions
Answer all ten questions in your notebook or in your head. Then open each answer to check your work.
-
Which number should every good bar graph scale include?
Show answer
0. A scale that starts above zero stretches the bars.
-
The data values go up to 9. What is the smallest good top for the scale?
Show answer
9. The scale must reach the tallest bar.
-
A scale reads 0, 2, 4 and 6. How many units does each step show?
Show answer
2 units. Each number is 2 more than the one before.
-
A scale reads 0, 10, 20 and 30. How many units does each step show?
Show answer
10 units. Each number is 10 more than the one before.
-
The data values are 2, 7 and 4. What must the top of the scale reach at least?
Show answer
7. The tallest bar is 7.
-
A bar is drawn at 5, but the table says 9. How many books is the bar short?
Show answer
4 books. 9 - 5 = 4.
-
A graph has 4 bars of equal width. Each bar is 18 mm wide. How wide is the bar area?
Show answer
72 mm. 4 × 18 = 72.
-
A scale shows 0, 5, 10 and 15. How many steps are there from 0 to 15?
Show answer
3 steps. The steps are 0 to 5, 5 to 10 and 10 to 15.
-
A picture graph key says each star stands for 5 books. How many books do 3 stars show?
Show answer
15 books. 3 × 5 = 15.
-
A bar graph has 4 bars, and the data values are 6, 9, 3 and 8. How many bars reach 6 or more?
Show answer
3 bars. The bars 6, 9 and 8 reach 6 or more.