Tables and bar charts

For grown-ups: this lesson in words

Years 3 to 6 · Maths

Tables and bar charts: I can read pictograms, tables and bar charts, and work out how many more or fewer.

1. Mei's class counted their pets and made a tally chart. Each mark is 1 pet.

   Cats: 1 gate of 5 and 2 more marks. 5 and 2 more is 7 cats.

   Dogs: 2 gates. 2 gates of 5 make 10 dogs.

   Fish: 4 single marks and no gate. 4 fish.

   Picture: A tally chart called "Pets in Mei's class". Cats: 7; Dogs: 10; Fish: 4.

2. Here are the same counts in a table. Each pet has its own row.

   Read across the row: Cats, 7.

   Dogs, 10. That is the biggest number, so dogs are the most common pet.

   Fish, 4. That is the smallest number, so fish are the fewest.

   Picture: A table called "Pets in Mei's class". Cats: 7; Dogs: 10; Fish: 4.

3. Your turn: Here is the table of pets again. Which pet has the fewest? Tap its name.

   Picture: A table called "Pets in Mei's class". Cats: 7; Dogs: 10; Fish: 4.

   Tap the right part of the picture.

   Answer

   The answer: Fish

   Fish. 4 is smaller than 7 and 10, so fish are the fewest.

Words to know

pictogram:

A chart that uses pictures. The key tells you how many each picture stands for.

key:

The part of a pictogram that says what one picture stands for.

bar chart:

A chart with bars. The taller the bar, the bigger the number.

scale:

The numbers up the side of a bar chart. They can go up in 2s, 5s or 10s.

table:

Numbers set out in rows, with a name next to each number.

tally:

Marks used to count. A gate of marks stands for 5.