Scaled Bar Graphs and Picture Graphs

3rd Grade MathMeasurement and Data4 pages

About this worksheet

A scaled-graph worksheet for 3rd grade where students first read a picture graph and then build a bar graph of their own. Room 3B's Read-a-Thon data uses a key of one book symbol for 4 books read across mystery, adventure, science, and history. The second data set lists the favorite recess sports of 70 students (soccer 25, basketball 20, kickball 15, tag 10) for shading onto a grid where each row equals 5. Two-step comparison questions close the page, and the key shows the full working, including the 60-book total.

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Curriculum objectives covered

3.MD.3

Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step "how many more" and "how many less" problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs. For example, draw a bar graph in which each square in the bar graph might represent 5 pets.

The whole sheet: reading the 4-books-per-symbol picture graph in Part 1, drawing the 5-per-row bar graph in Part 2, and the one- and two-step comparisons in questions 2, 4, and 5.

What's inside this worksheet

Part 1: Read the Scaled Picture Graph

Four rows of book symbols (mystery 4, adventure 6, science 3, history 2) sit above a key stating each symbol equals 4 books. Students find the mystery total, the adventure-history gap, and the class total of 60.

Part 2: Make a Scaled Bar Graph

A data table of four recess sports feeds a blank grid with an axis labeled 0 to 30 in steps of 5. Students shade soccer to 25, basketball to 20, kickball to 15, and tag to 10.

Part 3: Solve Problems Using the Bar Graph

Question 4 compares tag with soccer. Question 5 is two-step: combine basketball and kickball (35), then subtract soccer for the 10-student difference, showing both steps.

How teachers use it

Two-day sequence

Read the picture graph on day one and build the bar graph on day two. The scales differ on purpose, 4 per symbol against 5 per row, so students meet both.

Key-first questioning

Cover the graph and show only the key. Ask what six symbols would mean before anyone counts, so the multiplying-by-4 step happens consciously.

Work-shown grading

Grade question 5 on the two written steps, 20 + 15 = 35 and 35 − 25 = 10, not the final answer. One-step answers of 10 with no working are usually luck.

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