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CHANGING THE SCALE ON A GRAPH

Lesson 7

INTRODUCTION

To describe how changing the scale changes a line graph, we need to understand the term scale.

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SCALE

  A scale is the markings on the axis of a graph.   For example, the scale on the x-axis can go up by 5 (0, 5, 10, 15, etc.) or by 50 (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, etc.).

CHANGING THE SCALE ON A GRAPH TEXTBOOK P. 87 Kurt has been reading the science fiction book 20 000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. He learned that 1 league is about 6 km. He created a table of leagues and kilometers. He used the data in the table to create a line graph.

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CHANGING THE SCALE ON A GRAPH TEXTBOOK P. 87

Leagues Kilometers 0 0

5000 30 000 10 000 60 000 15 000 90 000 20 000 120 000

CHANGING THE SCALE ON A GRAPH TEXTBOOK P. 87 A.  Create a new graph by doubling the value of

each unit on the scale of the vertical axis. B.  Create a new graph by doubling the value of

each unit on the scale of the vertical axis once again.

C.  Compare the appearance of the original graph to that of Part A and Part B. How is the line changing as you increase the scale on the vertical axis?

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INDEPENDENT WORK

1.  Workbook (p. 27)