Charts, Tables and Graphs
In Year 5, statistics is about pulling information out of charts, graphs and tables and making sense of what it tells you. Children interpret line graphs that show how something changes over time, comparing two lines on the same graph and working out the gap between them, and they read timetables to find journey times. They also complete and interpret two-way tables, using the row and column totals to work out what is missing.
Practise Charts, Tables and Graphs
Have a guess, even if you're not sure. Get one wrong and we'll show you why, so every miss is a chance to learn.
Timed practice
The same practice, just with a gentle clock. Pick a length and see how many you can answer.
Good to know
Reading a line graph
A line graph shows how something changes over time. With two lines you can compare them, and the gap between is the difference.
For grown-ups
The real skill in Year 5 data work is careful reading rather than quick calculation: tracking along one line, one row or one column at a time so the numbers never get mixed up. Line graphs introduce the idea of a continuous trend and of comparing two sets of data at once, while two-way tables teach children that every row and column has to add up to its total, with the corner holding the grand total of everything. This habit of pulling meaning out of data, and trusting it only once it adds up, is the groundwork for the pie charts and wider data handling that follow in Year 6 and beyond.
What is in this topic
- Reading and interpreting line graphs
- Comparing two data sets on one graph
- Reading timetables and finding journey times
- Completing and interpreting two-way tables
How to help at home
Graphs, timetables and two-way tables all reward slow, careful reading rather than quick calculation. The skill is teaching your child to track along one line, one row or one column at a time, so the numbers never get mixed up. A few minutes with a real chart beats a worksheet full of them.
- Read graphs off real life. Point at a value on a line graph and ask 'what was the temperature at 2pm?' Get them to put a finger on 2 along the bottom, slide up to the line, then across to the scale: if it lands on 18, that is the answer.
- Practise the gap between two lines. On a graph showing two cities, pick one time and read both lines, say 18 and 14 at three o'clock, then ask 'how much warmer was the first?' The gap is 18 minus 14, which is 4.
- Time journeys with a real timetable. Find a train leaving at 09:45 and arriving at 10:20, then work out the journey by counting to the next hour and on: 15 minutes to 10:00, then 20 more, so 35 minutes in total.
- Fill two-way tables using the totals. If a row says 17 children in total and one cell already shows 9, the missing cell must be 17 minus 9, which is 8, because every row and every column has to add up to its total.
Where children get stuck
The most common slip on a line graph is reading off the wrong axis: children find the right point on the line but then read the number along the bottom instead of up the side. Fixing it is physical, not clever. Have them trace with a finger every time, up first to the line and then straight across to the side scale, and read only the number their finger lands on there.
Two-way tables trip children up when they add the wrong direction, or forget that the bottom-right corner is the grand total of everything. The fix is to treat each row and each column as its own little sum that must match its total: check across, then check down, and make sure the corner equals both the row totals added up and the column totals added up. If those two do not agree, there is a mistake to hunt down.