Funding for the VITAL/Ready to Teach collection was secured through the United States Department of Education under the Ready to Teach Program.
Loading StandardsIn this CYBERCHASE activity, students learn the importance of paying close attention to scaling and to the labeling of the axes. They draw their own bar graphs and they compare information charted on two different bar graphs.
60 minutes
Raising the Bar QuickTime Video
Handout: "Making Graphs with Different Scales"
Assessment: Level A
Assessment: Level B
Answer Key
1. Read the following to your students: "Bianca and Harry get jobs working at the refreshment stand at the movie theater. Whoever sells more products wins free movie tickets. As you watch the video clip, decide for yourself who you think won."
2. Play the Raising the Bar QuickTime Video .
3. Discuss with the class their justifications for who won.
4. Distribute the Handout: "Making Graphs with Different Scales" .
5. Ask students to complete the handout.
6. Discuss the handout with students, focusing on question 3. As a class, brainstorm the characteristics of bar graphs that can be easily compared.
Assessment: Level A (proficiency): Students are asked to compare graphs which represent similar data only one graph expresses the number of free throws made out of twenty and the other graph expresses the number of free throws missed out of twenty. Students learn to pay attention to labels as well as scale.
Assessment: Level B (above proficiency): Students are asked to compare graphs where it is important to pay attention to scale. Also, in this graphing situation it is better to represent less rather than more.
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