Surf for More Math

Lesson 6 - Changing the Appearance of a Graph

Use this interactive activity to encourage students to have fun on the Web while learning about changing the appearance of a graph. Students can try this activity on their own or in pairs.

Goal

Explain how changing the scale of a graph can affect its appearance.

Builds Upon

Student Book pages 74-76

Instructions for Use

Bar Graph lets students change the scale on a graph and interpret data displayed on the bar graph.

To use Bar Graph, choose a data set from the drop-down menu beside "Choose data set:" under the graph. You can also enter your own data by typing the data in the text box. Then click the "Graph Data" button.

By dragging the "Bar Width" scroll bar, you can change the thickness of the bars. To adjust the scale of the graph, drag the vertical scroll bar. You can also input maximum and minimum values into the text fields and then click the "Set Min and Max" button to adjust the scale of the graph. To change the colour of the bars, select a colour from a drop-down menu. To clear all the data, click the "Clear Data" button.