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Everyday maths 2 (Wales)
Everyday maths 2 (Wales)

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5.1 Drawing line graphs

Drawing a line graph is very similar to drawing a bar chart, and they have many of the same features.

Line graphs need:

  • a title
  • a label for the vertical axis (e.g. units of currency)
  • a numbered scale on the vertical axis
  • a label on the horizontal axis (e.g. month) so that it is clear to the reader what they are looking at.

The main difference when drawing a line graph rather than a bar chart, is that rather than a bar, you put a dot or a small cross to represent each piece of information. You then join each dot together with a line. There is significant debate over whether the dots should be joined with a curve or with straight line. Whilst the issue is (believe it or not!) hotly contested, the general consensus seems to be that dots should be joined with straight lines.

Activity 9: Drawing a line graph

  1. Have a go at drawing a line graph to represent the data below.

    The table below shows the temperatures in Tenby during the first two weeks of July 2018.

Table 10
DateTemperature High ˚CTemperature Low ˚C
01/07/20182515
02/07/20182817
03/07/20182912
04/07/20182415
05/07/20182613
06/07/20182212
07/07/20182312
08/07/20182712
09/07/20182614
10/07/20182414
11/07/20182214
12/07/2018227
13/07/20182412
14/07/20182520

Answer

  1. Your line graph should look similar to the one shown below with a title, key and axis labels.

    Described image
    Figure 20 A line graph of temperatures in Tenby, Wales in July 2018
  1. A clothing store has outlets in Llandudno and Aberystwyth. Use the data in the table below to draw a line graph comparing monthly sales between January and June.
Table 11
MonthJanFebMarAprMayJun

Sales

(£000s)

   

Llandudno291519202324
Aberystwyth251016162126

Answer

  1. Your line graph should look similar to the one shown below with a title, key and axis labels.

    Described image
    Figure 21 A line graph showing half-year sales for Llandudno and Aberystwyth