Intermediate
40 mins
Teacher/Student led
+80 XP
Teacher-led from the board. Pupils do not need a device, but can follow on one.

The Bar Chart: Bars Up a Scale

In this maths lesson you build bar charts from tally counts. You drag bars up to the correct height on the scale and check that all bars start from the same base line so you can compare them fairly.

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    Bar chart builder
    Bar chart builder

    1 - Getting Started ~3 mins

    You have shown class answers with tallies and with pictures. Today we use bars instead. Each answer gets one bar, and we read how high it climbs on the numbered side.

    Here is the fruit survey from our pictogram lesson, drawn as bars. Which bar is the tallest? What does that tell us?

    2 - Watch and Notice ~7 mins

    Here are two bar charts. Look at the numbered side on the left, and at where every bar begins.

    The numbered side is called the scale. You read the number where the top of the bar stops. The Apple bar reaches 6, and the Banana bar reaches 4.

    Notice that both bars start on the same base line. That is what lets us compare them fairly.

    3 - Try It Together ~8 mins

    Here are the votes from a fruit survey: Apple 5, Banana 3 and Orange 4.

    Drag each bar up until its top sits on the right number. We check the height before the next bar.

    Favourite fruit from the tally

    4 - Draw a Bar in Your Copy ~4 mins

    COPYBOOK MOMENT

    In your maths copy, draw a base line and write the numbers 0 to 5 up the side. Then draw one bar whose top sits on 4.

    5 - Class Challenge ~11 mins

    Four charts to build, one at a time. Read the votes above the chart, then drag each bar up until its top sits on the right number and press Check.

    On the last chart, say which bar will be tallest before anyone drags.

    Four charts to build


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    Bar chart builder
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