Picture Graphs: Counting and Comparing

Imagine your class votes for a favorite fruit. Five friends pick apples, three pick bananas, and two pick grapes. How can you show that so everyone can see it fast? You can make a picture graph! A picture graph uses one picture to stand for each vote. When you line the pictures up in rows, you can see which fruit won just by looking.

In this lesson you will: - Learn what data means. - Read a picture graph. - Tell which group has more, fewer, most, and least.

Data is a fancy word for facts we collect. When you count how many friends like each fruit, those numbers are data. We can collect data by counting, by asking questions, or by looking closely. Then we can put the data in a graph to make it easy to read.

Look back at the fruit votes: apples 5, bananas 3, grapes 2. Apples have the MOST because 5 is the biggest number. Grapes have the LEAST because 2 is the smallest. Apples have MORE than bananas. Grapes have FEWER than bananas. Comparing the rows helps you answer these questions fast.

Sometimes we count with tally marks. Each mark is one, like this: I, II, III, IIII. When you reach five, you draw a line across the four to make a bundle. Tally marks are a quick way to keep count while you collect your data. Later you can turn the tallies into a picture graph.