Graphing Your Data

Showing patterns & trends

A picture is worth a

thousand words!

Variables what you measure in an experiment dependent variable

measured variable unpredictable change: we don’t know how it

will change until we do the experiment Y-axis

independent variable manipulated variable predictable change: it only

changes because we chose how it would change

X-axis

Types of data (information)

The effect of _____________

on _____________

INDEPENDENT

DEPENDENT

Examples of experiments 1 How does fertilizer affect the growth rate

of plants? we set up an experiment testing different

amounts of fertilizer on different plants & measuring the growth (height) of the plants: dependent variable (Y-axis)?

height of plants independent variable (X-axis)?

amount of fertilizer

The effect of _____________

on _____________

Amount of Fertilizer

Height of Plants

Examples of experiments 2 How does exercise affect heart rate of

10th grade student? we set up an experiment testing

different lengths of time of exercise (minutes) on the heart rate of students: dependent variable (Y-axis)?

heart rate independent variable (X-axis)?

minutes of exercise

The effect of _____________

on _____________

Exercise

Heart Rate

Examples of experiments 3 What’s the favorite drink of students?

we set up an experiment surveying students and asking which is their favorite drink : dependent variable (Y-axis)?

number of students independent variable (X-axis)?

type of drinkThe effect of _____________

on _____________

Type of Drink

How many students chose it

Making pictures out of data Graphs

line graphs graphing data that shows continuous change

bar graphs (or histograms) graphing data that is in disconnected groups

How’s a critterto choose?

How does elevation affect temperature?

elevation

tem

pera

ture

5

10

15

20

25

30

0 500 1000 1500 2000 25000

elevation (feet above sea level)

temp.(°C)

0 30500 251000 201500 152000 102500 5

1200 ft?

18

Line graph!

1200

Which drink do you like best?

type of drink

num

ber o

f stu

dent

s

1

2

3

4

5

6

Coke Pepsi water tea Gatorade0

drink numberCoke 1Pepsi 1Water 4

Iced tea 4Gatorade 3

Red Bull?

RBRB

Bar graph!

Any Questions??