Organizing and Graphing Data

SCS3. Students will identify and investigate problems scientificallyd. Graphically compare and analyze data points and/or summary statistics

Data Collection

• An important step in the scientific method is data collection.

• In an experiment data is organized in a data table.• Example

Element Melting Temp. (K)Aluminum 933

Gold 1337

Iron 1808

Lead 601

Silver 1235

Graphing data

• Once the data is organized in a table it should be graphed.

• Graphing data allows scientists to visualize the results in the experiment.

• Line graphs and bar graphs are two types of graphs used by scientists.

Bar graphs

• A bar graph is used to compare different items.

• These items do not affect each other

• Bar graphs are useful to show big differences between items.

Line graphs• Line graphs are used

to show data with continuous changes.

• The items being compared directly affect each other.

• Line graphs are useful to show changes over time.

Steps to creating a good graph

1. A graph should always have a title that explains what the data measures.

Steps to make a good graph

2. The x and y axes must be labeled with correct the unit of measurement.

Pie Charts

• Pie charts are used to show parts of a whole.

• Percentages are used to divide a circle - resembling a pie.

• The size of each piece depends on the value of the percentage.

Amount of gases in the air

Examples

1. What information does this graph tell us?2. What element has the lowest melting point?3. What information is located on the x-axis?4. What information is located on the y-axis

Examples

1. What information does this graph tell us?2. What brand of fertilizer increases the height of a bean plant?3. How tall did the bean plant fertilized with Granny’s Bloomers

grow?

Example

1. What information does this graph tell us?2. Which dead celebrities made less than 20 million dollars?3. How much money did Dale Earnhardt make last year?4. How much money did Tupac Shakur make last year?

7 million