Read and Compare Data Presented in Line Graphs

In this activity, we're going to be learning how to read and compare information presented in line graphs.

The following line graph shows the temperature of someone over time.

We can see that the horizontal line represents the time (x-axis) and the vertical line represents the temperature in Fahrenheit ºF  (y-axis).

We don't often use Fahrenheit nowadays for measuring temperature - it's more usual to use degrees Celsius ºC

The labels on the vertical and horizontal lines are known as legends (they tell us what the information is representing).

The title tells us what the graph is representing.

          A line graph showing body temperature over time (minutes)

Let's have a look at a question using this line graph.

Example

What was the difference in temperature after 2 minutes and 6 minutes?

Answer

The x-axis starts at 0. This is representing time in this graph.

In this graph, the y-axis starts at 97ºF

First, we travel along the x-axis to 2 minutes and then read up to the graph line (there is a black dot here). 

We can see that the temperature is 98ºF

Now we do the same at 6 minutes and find it's 100ºF

100 - 98 = 2ºF

The difference in temperature is 2ºF

Good luck with the following questions.