Worked examples
Two examples
Example 1
Which kind of graph would best show how a family’s monthly budget is divided among rent, food, transportation and savings?
- Ask what job the graph has to do. Four graphs, four jobs: a line graph shows change over time; a bar graph compares separate groups; a circle graph shows the parts of one whole; a scatterplot shows whether two measurements go together.
- Here the budget is one whole, and rent, food, transportation and savings are its parts.
- The parts of one whole, adding up to 100 percent, is the job of a circle graph.
Answer: A circle graph
Example 2
Which kind of graph would best show whether taller students also tend to have longer arm spans, measuring 40 students?
- Each student is measured two ways: height and arm span.
- The question is whether the two measurements go together.
- A scatterplot puts one dot for each student: height along the bottom, arm span up the side. If the dots run upward from left to right, the two go together.
- A line graph is tempting, but nothing here changes over time.
Answer: A scatterplot
Where this is taught: Science Practices, part 4: Tables and graphs · Look Again Quiz 3: Tables and Graphs
In your Kaplan book: Unit 4, Chapter 1, Lesson 4: Express and Apply Scientific Information · Map of the Terrain, topic 3: Tables and graphs
The drill
Ten questions
How many:
Read what is in the box first, if there is one. Then tap your answer; a few questions ask you to choose words from a drop-down instead, the way the GED test does. Press Check my answers at the bottom.Read what is in the box first, if there is one. Circle your answer; where there are brackets, circle the choice that fits. The answer key, with the reasoning, is on the last page.