Grade 5 (age 10-11)

grade 5 Data Representation

Once you have collected data, a table keeps the exact numbers and a graph lets you see them at a glance. Which graph fits depends on your question: a bar graph compares amounts, a line graph shows change over time, and a strip graph or a pie chart shows what share of the whole each part takes. The pictures below draw the results of a school lunch survey as a strip graph and as a pie chart at the same time. Change the number of people for each answer and watch the sections of the strip and the slices of the pie grow and shrink together.

Choosing the right graph

📊 What do you want to see?

①To compare how many there are in each group, use a bar graph, where the length of each bar shows the amount

②For something that changes over time, like temperature or height, plot points and join them with lines, and the line graph shows clearly where it rises and falls

③To see what share of the whole each part takes, use a strip graph or a pie chart, which is exactly what the two pictures below do

Strip graph

Very Good20

Good15

Average10

Poor5

📏 Reading a strip graph

①A strip graph treats the whole as one long strip and gives each answer a section as long as its share

②The starting values, 20, 15, 10 and 5 people out of 50, are 40%, 30%, 20% and 10%, so the strip is cut in exactly those proportions

③Because length stands for share, comparing lengths tells you how many times bigger one group is than another

④The percentages add up to 100%. Since each one is rounded to one decimal place, the total can come out as 99.9% or 100.1%

Pie chart

🍰 Reading a pie chart

①A pie chart treats the whole as one circle and gives each answer a slice as big as its share

②The size of a slice is set by its angle at the center. A full turn is 360°, so an answer with 40% gets 40% of 360°, which is 144°

③The pie shows the same data as the strip, so the percentages are identical and only the shape changes

④Set one answer to 0 people and its slice disappears, while the shares of the others grow

Summary

Bar graph

Comparing amounts

Bar lengths show at a glance which group is largest or smallest

Strip graph, pie chart

percentage = part ÷ whole × 100

Shows what share of the whole each part takes, and all the percentages add up to 100%

Line graph

Change over time

Points joined by lines show how a quantity rises and falls

🎯 At a glance

①Choose the graph that answers your question

②Shares of a whole → strip graph or pie chart

③Comparing amounts → bar graph

④Change over time → line graph

⑤In a strip graph or a pie chart, the percentages add up to 100%

Examples and Unit Test

Example 1

Which kind of graph is best for showing what share of the whole each answer takes?

A bar graph compares amounts, and a line graph shows change over time.

To show parts of a whole, a pie chart or a strip graph works best.

▸ A pie chart (or a strip graph)

Shares → pie chart or strip graph, amounts → bar graph, change over time → line graph.

Example 2

On a strip graph, Very Good is 40%, Good is 30% and Average is 20%. What percent is Poor?

All the sections of a strip graph together make 100%.

100 − 40 − 30 − 20 = 10, so Poor is 10%.

▸ 10%

These are exactly the starting values in the picture above: 20, 15, 10 and 5 people out of 50.

Unit Test

Which graph is best for showing how the temperature changes during a day?

①pie chart

②line graph

③strip graph

④pictograph

▸ ② line graph

To see something rise and fall over time, you plot points and join them with lines.

So a line graph is the best choice for the temperature through the day.

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Patterns and Correspondence

Fraction Division

Last updated 2026-10-17