Comparing data

Part of MathsTables, graphs and chartsYear 3Year 3Year 4

How to compare data

Tables, pictograms, and charts are some of the tools you can use to compare data.

They can be used to answer questions you have about the information you have.

They can also be used to help you think of new questions about the information.

A child at a desk thinking about a data table. It has two columns, 'type of flower' and 'number planted'. The data is as follows: rose 89, daffodil 67, pansy 109 and tulip 79.

Different tables and charts use different approaches to displaying data:

  • a table can include numbers or tallies
  • a bar chart has bars or blocks
  • a pictogram includes pictures, shapes or symbols

It is important to always check the scale of the chart, pictogram or table so that you are sure what number is being shown.

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Activity: Comparing data

Complete this interactive activity to learn how to compare data. Then put your knowledge to the test.

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Using tables and charts

Comparing data means looking at information to see what is similar or different about it.

Displaying data in a table or chart can help you to compare it.

Take a look at three examples of different charts or tables that you can use.

Data table

This data table shows how many flowers were planted in a garden. The different numbers of flowers can be easily compared by reading the table.

A data table titled 'flowers planted in the garden'. It has two columns, 'type of flower' and 'number planted'. The data is as follows, rose 89, daffodil 67, pansy 109 and tulip 79.

This data table shows that 109 pansies were planted - this is the highest number of flowers planted.

You can also use it to find out that 67 daffodils were planted - this is the lowest number of flowers planted.

Pictogram

This pictogram uses pictures to represent numbers. It shows the favourite fruits of children at a school.

Pictograms will always have a scale, which will tell you how much each image represents.

A pictogram titled 'fruit eaten at lunch time'. There are two columns 'fruit' and 'number of children'. A whole piece of fruit is equal to 12 children. There are four rows. The apple row has 3 whole apples. The orange row has 1 whole orange and a quarter of an orange. The pineapple row has half a pineapple. The strawberry row has 2 and a half strawberries.

In this pictogram, each piece of fruit represents 12 children. Half a piece of fruit represents 6 children. A quarter of a piece of fruit represents 3 children (because 3 is a quarter of 12).

You can use this pictogram to compare data and find out that 6 children chose pineapple and 36 children chose apple.

Bar chart

A bar chart uses bars to show data. This bar chart shows the favourite sports of children in Class 4.

A bar chart titled 'class four's favourite sport'. The left axis is labelled number of children. Along the the axis at the bottom of the chart are 5 different sports, tennis, rugby, football, swimming and netball. The data shows that tennis is the favourite sport of 3 children, rugby is that of 9 children, football is 11, swimming is 5 and netball is 7 children's favourite.

The height of each bar on this bar chart shows how popular something is.

You can quickly use this bar chart to compare data and find out that football was the most popular sport (it has the tallest bar in the chart).

You can also use it to find out that tennis was the least popular sport (it has the smallest bar in the chart).

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Example 1

This is a data table that shows how many trains travelled from a station over a week.

A data table with the topic, 'trains leaving the station this week'. There are two columns, 'days of the week' and 'trains per day'. The data is as follows, Monday 12, Tuesday 18, Wednesday 15, Thursday 17, Friday 22, Saturday 10, Sunday 14.

On which day did the most trains travel from the station?

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Example 2

This is a pictogram which shows how many books were borrowed from the library.

A pictogram titled 'books borrowed from the library'. There are two columns 'days of the week' and 'books borrowed' with 1 book equalling 10 books borrowed. Monday has 4 whole books, Tuesday has 3 whole books, Wednesday has 1 and a half books, Thursday has 2 and a half books and Friday has 4 and a half whole books.

How many more books were borrowed on Monday than on Wednesday?

Don't forget to look at the scale.

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Example 3

This is a bar chart that shows how many people visited different rooms in a museum.

A bar chart titled of 'number of visitors to different rooms'. The left axis shows the numbers of visitors and along the axis at the bottom of the chart are the different rooms. The data is as follows, Art exhibition 25 visitors, dinosaur exhibition 50 visitors, science exhibition 30 visitor and sculptures exhibition 45 visitors.

This is a bar chart that shows how many people visited different rooms in a museum.

Which room was the least popular?

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In this game, use the times tables and more maths skills to defeat monsters and reclaim the Kingdom.

Play Guardians: Defenders of Mathematica to get ready for SATs.
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