Pictograms | Best GCSE Maths Revision
Introduction
Statistics essentially looks at data and how to analyse that data and also how to represent that data.
Data can be represented in a number of ways such as in the form of a picture or diagram in order to help people understand the information more quickly.
Pictograms are a form of a frequency table but here the frequency is represented by the use of a symbol. You will often see questions around pictograms on the foundation GCSE maths paper, as they are generally quite straightforward, and many students find that this is a question where it is possible to achieve full marks.
For instance the image of a mobile could equate to 100 mobile phones and this could be representing the number of phones that are sold in a particular shop on a weekly basis.
It is important to be aware of the disadvantages of pictograms. Sometimes you might see half a symbol or a quarter or some other amount that is not always obvious which means that frequencies are only approximations.
Pictograms- Example
Take a look at the following question:
This is a typical pictogram question and you need to use the key that is provided.
a) Because there are two loaves of bread next to Mr Jones, this means that a total of 2 x 20 = 40 loaves of bread were made.
b) Next to Mrs Gray you will see that there appears to be 2.5 loaves of bread. So the total here would be 2.5 x 20 = 50 loaves of bread.
c) You are told Mrs Shah has made 60 loaves so you need to draw in 60 ÷ 20 = 3 loaves.
d) You are told that Mr Khan has made 90 loaves. Because the key shows that 1 loaf of bread represents 20 loaves you know that a symbol of 4 loaves would represent 80 and another half loaf would represent 10. So 4.5 loaves would need to be drawn.
Pictograms - Example
Take a look at the following question:
a) Here you can see that there are two full circles and because one full circle represents 4 zips, then two circles will be 2 x 4 = 8 zips.
b) On Wednesday there are two full circles and another shape. You need to be able to determine the value of the third shape and this case it is 34 which means that this shape will represent 34 ×4=3 zips. The total number of zips sold on Wednesday will be 4 + 4 + 3 = 11.
c) You know that 2 circles will represent 8 zips. But you need a pictogram that will represent 9 zips. Because one full zip will be represented by just one quarter of a circle. So a total of 2 and a ¼ circles need to be drawn.
Pictograms – Question Practice
Try the following questions on your own before looking at the solution:
Question Practice Solutions
- The frequency column is completed by adding the tally’s that are shown in the tally column. For Cassie the frequency is 15 and for David the frequency is 9.
- This question is actually asking you to determine the value of each square which is the symbol that is being used. You know that Anna has sent 24 text messages and the pictogram shows 6 squares. This means that each square has a value of 24 ÷6 = 4 text messages.
For Bhavini, how many squares are needed? 12 texts were sent and each square represents 4 texts. Number of squares = 12 ÷4 = 3.
For David, how many squares are needed? 9 texts were sent. So 2 squares would represent 8 text messages and so 1 ¼ of a square would represent 1 text message. So a total of 2 and ¼ squares would be needed.
Hopefully you can see from the examples and questions here, that the topic of pictograms is quite easy and straightforward and one where you ought to be achieving full marks.