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Grade 2 · Maths · Lessons
Bar charts
📊chart🍎apples🐱cats📏scale
A bar chart turns counting into a picture.
The big ideaFind the bar. Read where it ends on the scale.

How it works

A bar chart uses the height of a bar to show how many. The taller the bar, the more there are.

Look at the scale along the side first. Some charts count by 1s and some count by 2s or 5s.

Find the top of the bar, then slide your finger left to the scale to read the number.

Fruit we picked02468107pears9apples2plums
Reading the apple bar: it ends at 9, so there are 9 apples (example numbers).

Example 1: Compare two bars

  1. The pear bar ends at 7. The apple bar ends at 9.
  2. How many more apples than pears? Take away: 9 − 7 = 2.
  3. There are 2 more apples.

Example 2: Use a total

  1. The apple bar ends at 9. The chart says 15 apples and grapes together.
  2. The grapes are the missing part, so take away: 15 − 9 = 6.
  3. There are 6 grapes.

Example 3: A scale that counts by 2s

  1. The scale counts by 2s. The cat bar ends at the 10 line and the bird bar at the 6 line.
  2. How many more cats than birds? 10 − 6 = 4.
  3. There are 4 more cats.

Words to know

bar chart
A chart where the height of each bar shows how many.
scale
The numbers along the side that tell you how much each step is.

Watch out

Try it

  1. A bar for cats ends at 8 and a bar for dogs ends at 5. How many more cats than dogs?
  2. A chart counts by 2s. A bar ends at the 3rd step. How many is that?
  3. There are 12 apples and pears in all. The apple bar ends at 7. How many pears?
  4. Do you read the scale or the bars first?
Answers: 1. 3 · 2. 6 · 3. 5 · 4. the scale
For grown-upsMake your own chart: count socks, spoons or toy cars by kind and draw a bar for each. Ask 'which has the most?' and 'how many more?'
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