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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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Creating bar graphs

Google Classroom
Practice creating bar graphs to represent data.

What is a bar graph?

Bar graphs show information about different categories. In a bar graph, the length of each bar represents a number.
Sara asked all the third graders at her school what their favorite pet is. Then she made a bar graph to show her results. Sara showed that 30 people chose cats by making a bar for Cat that lines up with 30.
A bar graph shows the horizontal axis labeled Favorite pet and the vertical axis labeled Number. The horizontal axis is labeled, from left to right: Cat, Dog, Fish, and Hamster. 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, 40, 45, and 50. The bar line for each Favorite pet shows the following: Cat bar line extends to 30, Dog bar line extends to 35, Fish bar line extends to 15, and Hamster bar line extends to 10.
Let's use Sara's bar graph to answer a few questions.
Practice Problem 1A
How many people chose fish?
  • 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 1B
Which pet was chosen most often?
Choose 1 answer:

Creating bar graphs from data

The Larson family has a pet mouse that snacks on apples, carrots, and cheese.
The images show the snacks the Larsons fed their mouse for one week.
An apple.
A carrot.
A carrot.
A carrot.
A cheese wedge.
A carrot.
An apple.
An apple.
An apple.
A cheese wedge.
A carrot.
A carrot.
A carrot.
An apple.
A carrot.
A carrot.
An apple.
An apple.
A carrot.
An apple.
A carrot.
An apple.
Problem 2, Part A
How many apples did they feed their mouse during the week?
  • 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

Problem 2, Part B
So what number will apples line up with on the bar graph?
  • 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

Now that we know the Apple bar will line up with 9 we can drag the bar to 9 on the graph. Then we can follow the same steps for the Carrot and Cheese bars.
Problem 2, Part C
Create a bar graph that shows the total number for each snack.

Creating bar graphs from tables

The Shen family is choosing a name for their new kitten. They ask their friends and family members to vote for a name.
NameNumber of Votes
Scooter4
Fluffy8
Whiskers11
Jade10
Practice Problem 3
Create a bar graph to show how many votes each name got.

Labeling the bars

A dog walker kept track of the number of minutes he spent walking four different dogs last week.
DogMinutes spent walking
Buster45
Charlie70
Fluffy80
Ginger20
Practice Problem 4
What label should the dog walker use for each bar on the bar graph?
A bar graph shows the horizontal axis labeled Dog and the vertical axis labeled Minutes. The horizontal axis is labeled, from left to right: A, B, C, and D. 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 Dog shows the following: Bar A line extends to 20, Bar B line extends to the middle of 30 and 40, Bar C line extends to 70, and Bar D line extends to 80.
Bar A:

Bar B:

Bar C:

Bar D:

Labeling the numbers

Ari is teaching his goldfish to do tricks. He kept track of the number of times his fish did each trick during the last week.
TrickNumber of times
Swim in circles12
Blow bubbles6
Swim backwards15
Ari made a bar graph to show the information but forgot to label the lines.
A bar graph shows the horizontal axis labeled Trick and the vertical axis labeled Number of times. The horizontal axis is labeled, from left to right: Swim in circles, Blow bubbles, and Swim backwards. The vertical axis is labeled from the bottom of the axis to the top of the axis as follows: question mark, question mark, question mark, question mark, question mark, and question mark. The bar line for each Trick shows the following: Swim in circles bar line extends to the fifth question mark from the bottom, Blow bubbles bar line extends to the third question mark from the bottom, and Swim backwards bar line extends to the sixth question mark from the bottom.
Practice Problem 5
Which graph shows the correct labels for the lines?
Choose 1 answer:

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