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SavannahYear 8

Year 4 · Measures, time and graphs

Bar charts and time graphs

Interpret and present discrete and continuous data using appropriate graphical methods, including bar charts and time graphs

20 minutes4 checks6 exit questionsNational curriculum objective

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Interpret and present discrete and continuous data using appropriate graphical methods, including bar charts and time graphs

Key learning points

  • • Check the scale first
  • • Answering questions
  • • Time graphs
  • • Which graph when?

This lesson at a glance

  • 20 minutes
  • 18 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • No marked quiz yet
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

interpretpresentdiscretecontinuousappropriate

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 18 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 18

Silent film

Watch first

Bar charts and time graphs

Measuring round the edge, covering the inside, then reading the clock.

Read the film in words (English) ↓

What the film shows

  1. A finger traces the edge of a rectangle while the perimeter total counts up.
  2. The same rectangle fills with unit squares to show its area.
  3. Units convert on screen: centimetres to metres, grams to kilograms, millilitres to litres.
  4. A 12-hour clock and a 24-hour clock show the same moment side by side, then a bar chart is read off.
  5. The perimeter and unit-swap practicals for this unit repeat all of this with a tape measure.

Do it for real

The practicals below use what the film shows, with a full method you can follow at home.

Same perimeter, different areaGrams, millilitres and a fair biscuit test

In a nutshell

Interpret and present discrete and continuous data using appropriate graphical methods, including bar charts and time graphs

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 18

Before we start

What you already know

You can count in twos, fives and tens and read a simple pictogram.

3

Key words

Part 3 of 18

Key words

Words you'll need today

axis
The line up the side or along the bottom of a graph.
scale
What each square or gap on the axis is worth.
time graph
A line graph showing how something changes over time.
4

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 18

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 — Reading bar charts

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

5

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 18

Learn

Check the scale first

Before reading any bar, look at the numbers up the side. If they go 0, 5, 10, 15, then each gap is 5 and a half gap is 2 and a half. Reading a graph without checking the scale is the single most common mistake in the whole topic.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 18

Learn

Answering questions

'How many more chose apples than pears?' means read both bars and subtract. 'How many altogether?' means read every bar and add. 'Which was most popular?' is just the tallest bar. Say the numbers out loud as you read them so you do not lose one.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 18

Quick check

The scale goes 0, 10, 20, 30. What is each gap worth?

8

Reset break

Part 8 of 18

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
9

Quick check

Part 9 of 18

Quick check

A bar reaches halfway between 20 and 30. What does it show?

10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 18

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 — Time graphs and choosing

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 18

Learn

Time graphs

A time graph has time along the bottom and a measurement up the side, with the points joined by a line. A line going up means the amount is rising; a flat line means it stayed the same. Reading a temperature at 2pm means going up from 2pm to the line, then across to the scale.

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 18

Learn

Which graph when?

Bar charts are for separate groups — favourite fruit, ways of travelling to school. Time graphs are for something measured over and over, like the temperature every hour. Using the wrong one makes the picture confusing even when the numbers are right.

13

Quick check

Part 13 of 18

Quick check

Apples 14, pears 8. How many more apples?

14

Quick check

Part 14 of 18

Quick check

Which graph suits hourly temperature?

15

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 18

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • Assuming each square is worth 1 without checking.
  • Joining points with a line on a bar chart of separate groups.
  • Reading the bar next to the one asked about — use a ruler or your finger.
16

Challenge round

Part 16 of 18

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

17

Mastery quiz

Part 17 of 18

No quiz for this one

This lesson has no marked quiz attached yet.

18

Lesson round-up

Part 18 of 18

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Article

The cost of a school trip

A school is planning a trip to a wildlife park. The coach costs £480 however many people go. Entry costs £9.50 for each pupil and each adult goes free. The school says every pupil must pay the same amount, and the trip must not lose money.

If 60 pupils go, the coach works out at £8 each, so the total for each pupil is £17.50. If only 40 pupils go, the coach works out at £12 each, so the price rises to £21.50. The teacher explains that the coach is a fixed cost and the entry is a cost per person — which is why the price per pupil changes when the number changes.

The school decides to charge £20 and to use anything left over for a second trip later in the year.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Work out the total cost of the trip if 50 pupils go.
  2. Show why the price per pupil falls when more pupils go, using numbers.
  3. At £20 each, how many pupils must go before the trip makes money? Show your working.

  • Working out

    Working out

    Do the practice questions on paper, showing every step — not just the answer. Mark them yourself and circle anything you got wrong.

    10–15 questions

  • Worked example, explained

    Writing

    Copy one question out and write underneath, in words, why each step works.

    1 question, 4–5 sentences

  • Problem in words

    Working out

    Write your own real-life problem that uses today's method, then solve it.

    1 problem + solution

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 18 · Watch & discover

Next

Back to your Year 4 units, or a few minutes of quick practice.

All Year 4 unitsSkills quest
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