Lesson 9 Interpret Bar Graphs

    • Let’s interpret data in bar graphs.

Warm-up Notice and Wonder: Favorite Pets

What do you notice? What do you wonder?

Picture Graph. Favorite Pets. Key, picture of animal represents one pet. Cat, 6. Dog, 10. Fish, 5. Lizard, 3 .
Bar graph. Horizontal axis labeled cat, dog, fish, lizard. Vertical axis from 0 to 10 by ones. Height of bar at each category: Cat, 6. Dog, 10. Fish, 5. Lizard, 3.

Activity 1 Field Trip Choices

Picture of students on a field trip.

Groups of students in different classes were asked, “Where would you like to go for our field trip?” Their responses are shown in the bar graphs below.

Write as many statements as you can to show what can be learned about the students’ field trip choices from the bar graph.

Bar graph. Class1 Field Trip Choices. Horizontal axis labeled aquarium, fire station, childrens museum, zoo. Vertical axis from 0 to 11 by ones. Height of bar: Aquarium, 11. Fire station, 3. Childrens museum, 6. Zoo, 5.
Bar graph. Class 2 Field Trip Choices. Horizontal axis labeled aquarium, fire station, children's museum, zoo. Vertical axis from 0 to 9 by 1s. Height of bar: Aquarium, 7. Fire station, 4. Children's museum, 9. Zoo, 6.
Bar graph. Class 3 Field Trip Choices. Horizontal axis labeled aquarium, fire station, childrens museum, zoo. Vertical axis from 0 to 8 by ones. Height of bar: Aquarium, 4. Fire station, 5. Childrens museum, 7. Zoo, 8.

Activity 2 Our Favorite Seasons

A group of students were asked, “What is your favorite season?” Their responses are shown in the bar graph.

Bar graph. Our Favorite Season. Horizontal axis labeled winter, spring, summer, fall. Vertical axis from 0 to 14 by ones. Height of bar at each category: Winter, 7. Spring, 3. Summer, 13. Fall, 3.

Answer the questions using the graph.

  1. How many students voted for summer?

  2. What is the total number of students who voted for fall or spring?

  3. Which two seasons have a total of 10 votes?

  4. How many students voted?

Practice Problem

Problem 1

Use the bar graph to answer the questions about the trees in the park.

Bar graph. Trees in the Park. Horizontal axis labeled maple, oak, elm, willow. Vertical axis from 0 to 12 by ones. Height of bar: Maple, 11. Oak, 3. Elm, 9. Willow, 5.

  1. How many trees are there altogether?

  2. How many more maple trees are there than willow trees?

  3. Which kind of tree has the smallest number?