Collect and
Analyze Data
(GRAPHING)
What should be on every graph?
• THREE TITLES!
• overall title at the top of your graph
describing what your graph is about
• x-axis title (bottom line) describing
what information you test.
• Y-axis title (vertical line) describing
what information you put
Title
Y-AXIS
X- AXIS
X-axis (horizontal, bottom line)
• Your INDEPENDENT VARIABLES go
along your x-axis.
• List each independent variable along the
bottom
• Don’t forget to put a title along the xaxis after you have listed your
independent variables
Independent
variable
Y-axis (vertical line)
• Your DEPENDENT VARIABLE goes along
the vertical y-axis.
• You must look at your data to come up with
an appropriate scale.
• The scale is what you count up by along the
y-axis.
• Example: count up by 1’s, count up by 2’s, count
up by 10’s, etc.
• Always start with zero in the bottom corner.
Dependent
variable
What is a Variable????
Variables: are factors we can control, measure, or
manipulate in an experiment
Types of Variables:
Independent
Variable:
*one we manipulate
and can change
EX. Colors, Days,
Months, Cities
Dependent
Variable:
*the one that we
measure or observe
Control
Variable:
*the one that DOES
not change
EX. Temperature, # of EX. Time we take
shark attacks
temp, what tool we
use, kind of flower
pots
Dependent
Variable
Possible Control
Variables:
*where you get data
*when you take data
Independent
Variable
Bar graph & Line graph
• You will make a bar graph if you are
comparing 2 or more things.
• You will make a line graph if you are
tracking something changing over a period
of time.
Practice bar graph
Favorite Sport
Basketball
Football
Baseball
Softball
Other
# of students
45
36
18
11
25
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Basketball
Football
Baseball
Softball
Other
Practice Line graph
Year
1995
2000
2005
2010
# of bears
30
25
17
12
# of Bears Spotted in State Parks
35
30
#
25
20
o
f
15
10
5
0
1995
2000
Years
2005
2010
Types of Graphs
3 major types of Graphs:
1. Bar Graph
2. Line Graphs
3. Circle Graphs
Line Graphs
1. Most common in science*
2. Shows change over time
3. Shows how one variable
changes in response to
another
4. Shows trends of data
Bar Graphs
1. Categorical data
2. Vertical and horizontal bars
3. Show amounts of each
category
Circle Graphs
1. Categorical data
2. Shows relationship of part
to the whole
3. Must have data for all
categories
4. Also called a pie chart