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3rd grade

Course: 3rd grade > Unit 14

Lesson 2: Bar graphs
Math
3rd grade
Represent and interpret data
Bar graphs
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Reading bar graphs

Google Classroom
Interpret bar graphs to answer single-step questions about a context.

Reading bar graphs

Bar graphs show information by using bars to represent numbers.
The bar graph below shows the number of kids that chose each activity as their favorite thing to do on a hot day.
The Eat ice cream bar lines up with 120, which means 120 kids chose eating ice cream as their favorite hot day activity.
A bar graph shows the horizontal axis labeled Favorite activity and the vertical axis labeled Number of kids. The horizontal axis is labeled, from left to right: Eat ice cream, Play in sprinklers, Go swimming, and Have water fight. The vertical axis is labeled from the bottom of the axis to the top of the axis as follows: 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, 160, 180, and 200. The bar line for each Favorite activity shows the following: Eat ice cream bar line extends to 120, Play in sprinklers bar line extends to 60, Go swimming bar line extends to 140, and Have water fight bar line extends to 100.
Practice Problem 1A
Which activity did 60 kids choose?
Choose 1 answer:

Practice Problem 1B
Which activities did more than 80 kids choose?
Choose all answers that apply:

Comparing with bar graphs

Bar graphs can also be used to make comparisons.
The bar graph below shows the number of kids that chose each activity as their favorite thing to do on a rainy day.
We can see that kids chose watching a movie the most because the Watch a movie bar is the tallest. But we can also compare different choices by looking at more than one bar.
A bar graph shows the horizontal axis labeled Favorite activity and the vertical axis labeled Number of kids. The horizontal axis is labeled, from left to right: Jump in paddles, Look for rainbows, Watch a movie, and Play a game. The vertical axis is labeled from the bottom of the axis to the top of the axis as follows: 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100. The bar line for each Favorite activity shows the following: Jump in paddles bar line extends to 50, Look for rainbows bar line extends to 20, Watch a movie bar line extends to 100, and Play a game bar line extends to 60.
Practice Problem 2A
How many kids chose jumping in puddles as their favorite activity?
  • Your answer should be
  • an integer, like 6
  • a simplified proper fraction, like 3/5
  • a simplified improper fraction, like 7/4
  • a mixed number, like 1 3/4
  • an exact decimal, like 0.75
  • a multiple of pi, like 12 pi or 2/3 pi

Practice Problem 2B
How many kids chose looking for rainbows as their favorite activity?
  • Your answer should be
  • an integer, like 6
  • a simplified proper fraction, like 3/5
  • a simplified improper fraction, like 7/4
  • a mixed number, like 1 3/4
  • an exact decimal, like 0.75
  • a multiple of pi, like 12 pi or 2/3 pi

Sometimes we will need to answer questions by comparing two bars.
Practice Problem 2C
How many more kids chose jumping in puddles than chose looking for rainbows?
  • Your answer should be
  • an integer, like 6
  • a simplified proper fraction, like 3/5
  • a simplified improper fraction, like 7/4
  • a mixed number, like 1 3/4
  • an exact decimal, like 0.75
  • a multiple of pi, like 12 pi or 2/3 pi

Practice Problem 2D
Which activity was chosen twice as many times as jumping in puddles?
Choose 1 answer:

More ways to look at bar graphs

The bar graph below shows the number of kids that chose each activity as their favorite thing to do on a snowy day.
A bar graph shows the horizontal axis labeled Favorite activity and the vertical axis labeled Number of kids. The horizontal axis is labeled, from left to right: Make a snowman, Drink hot chocolate, Read a book, and Throw snowballs. The vertical axis is labeled from the bottom of the axis to the top of the axis as follows: 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40. The bar line for each Favorite activity shows the following: Make a snowman bar line extends to 35, Drink hot chocolate bar line extends to 20, Read a book bar line extends to 15, and Throw snowballs bar line extends to 35.
Practice Problem 3A
Which two activities were chosen by the same number of kids?
Choose all answers that apply:

Practice Problem 3B
How many kids chose either drinking hot chocolate or reading a book as their favorite activity?
  • Your answer should be
  • an integer, like 6
  • a simplified proper fraction, like 3/5
  • a simplified improper fraction, like 7/4
  • a mixed number, like 1 3/4
  • an exact decimal, like 0.75
  • a multiple of pi, like 12 pi or 2/3 pi

Make a bar graph

The following table shows the number of kids that chose each activity as their favorite thing to do after school.
ActivityNumber of kids
Play outside80
Art50
Sports60
Computers30
Practice Problem 4A
Create a bar graph that shows the number of kids who chose each activity

Practice Problem 4B
Which two activities combined have the same number of kids as chose playing outside?
Choose all answers that apply:

Practice Problem 4C
How many more kids chose the most popular activity than chose the least popular activity?
  • Your answer should be
  • an integer, like 6
  • a simplified proper fraction, like 3/5
  • a simplified improper fraction, like 7/4
  • a mixed number, like 1 3/4
  • an exact decimal, like 0.75
  • a multiple of pi, like 12 pi or 2/3 pi

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