Think about the school library over one whole week. Some days it is busy and lots of books go out; other days it is quiet. If we drew a bar chart of the books borrowed each day, which day do you think would have the tallest bar, and which day the shortest? How could a chart show you the busiest day in a single glance, without counting anything?

Four charts to look at, one after another. For each one, watch how we run a finger from the very top of a bar straight across to the number scale to read it. When the top of a bar sits between two numbers, we start at the line below it and count the small steps up. The last chart asks a 'how many more' question, so be ready to say which two bars we compare.

Today we work through these charts in order. First we read the tallest bar on a 'goals scored' chart. Then we read a bar whose top lands between two scale lines. Next we work out how many more goals one team scored than another and set the bars to match. Before the last challenge we find a total together: we read every bar, write the four numbers, and add them one by one. Finally we read every bar on the last chart, add them to find the total goals, and set the bars to match. Each one asks a bit more careful reading than the last.