Reading a bar chart
You learn to read values from a bar chart.
How to work it out
- Find what you are asked about: a bar, point, cell or slice.
- Follow it to the scale and read the number at that mark.
- In a pie chart the whole pie is 100%.
A worked example
How tall is the Thursday bar?
- Find the Thursday bar.
- Follow its top to the left, to the number scale.
- The top is at 20.
- The Thursday bar is 20 tall.
More examples
How tall is the Tuesday bar?
- Find the Tuesday bar.
- Follow its top to the left, to the number scale.
- The top is at 10.
- The Tuesday bar is 10 tall.
How tall is the Wednesday bar?
- Find the Wednesday bar.
- Follow its top to the left, to the number scale.
- The top is at 20.
- The Wednesday bar is 20 tall.
How much taller is the Thursday bar than the Monday bar?
- Read both bars first: Thursday is 20 and Monday is 12.
- Subtract the smaller number from the bigger one: 20 − 12 = 8.
- The Thursday bar is 8 taller.
Try it yourself
How many degrees was it on Tuesday?
- football
- swimming
- tennis
- gymnastics
There are 40 children. How many children choose football?
Watch out
You read the wrong bar because you didn’t look at the name under the bar first.
Always look at the label at the bottom of the bar before you look up.
Tips
- Read where the top of the bar reaches on the vertical scale.
Why it works
A bar chart shows data as bars. The height of the bar shows the value. You read where the top of the bar reaches.