To find video tutorials covering maths skills in Biology, go to the My GCSE Science search and enter the term “maths skills”. If you want to brush up on types of variables before finding out how they are used in graphs, check out these two blogs:įor the 101 on command words in GCSE Biology, look at this very helpful guide: Example 4 – Multiple line graphsĪ multiple line chart can effectively compare similar items over the same period of time, as you can see in Chart 5.5.5 which compares the use of cell phones by gender.We talk a lot about variables in this blog, because graphs are a visual way of presenting the relationship between variables. The important thing to remember is that you should pay attention to the scale that is being used when interpreting a graph. However, choosing a scale of 0 to 450 (Chart 5.5.4) better displays how small the decline in the number of guilty crime offenders really was.īoth charts can be useful depending on the context. It does not accurately depict the trend in guilty crime offenders between January and May since it exaggerates that trend.
Using a scale of 350 to 430 (Chart 5.5.3) focuses on a small range of values. The information is grouped by Month (appearing as row headers), Number of crime offenders (appearing as column headers). This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 5.5.4. This happens when the intervals between adjacent points along the axis may be dissimilar, or when the same data charted in two graphs using different scales appear different. If scales on the axes of a line graph force data to appear a certain way, then a graph can even reveal a trend that is entirely different from the one intended. Graphs can give a distorted image of the data. reveal trends and relationships between data,.The vertical bar chart, however, reveals a change in magnitude, whereas the line chart is used to show a change in direction. Vertical bar charts and line charts share a similar purpose.
Line charts can also depict multiple series and hence are usually the best candidate for time series data and frequency distribution. Although they do not present specific data as well as tables do, line charts are able to show relationships more clearly than tables do. For example, if you wanted to graph the height of a baseball pitch over time, you could measure the time variable along the x-axis, and the height along the y-axis. As a result, the line chart is often viewed as a time series graph. dollars, litres) or percentage, while the horizontal x-axis often measures units of time. The y-axis in a line chart usually indicates quantity (e.g. Line charts compare two variables: one is plotted along the x-axis (horizontal) and the other along the y-axis (vertical). It shows related information by drawing a continuous line between all the points on a grid. Line charts, especially useful in the fields of statistics and science, are more popular than all other graphs combined because their visual characteristics reveal data trends clearly and these charts are easy to create.Ī line chart is a visual comparison of how two variables-shown on the x- and y-axes-are related or vary with each other.