Pictographs

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Pictographs

A pictograph (or pictogram) is a way of displaying data using pictures. We need to be able to draw them and interpret them. Make sure you are happy with the following topics before continuing.

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Constructing a Pictograph

Pictographs are a method of displaying data.  They include a key giving information on what each individual picture is worth.

Example: Faye records the number of people at football training each week for 55 weeks in the table below.

Use this information to draw a pictograph of Faye’s data, including a key.

Number of players pictograph data table

We’re going to use footballs as the picture as it’s related to the question.

Here, we’re going to choose to have 11 football representing 2020 people.

Since whole balls are worth 2020 people, half a football represents 1010 people and a quarter of a football represents 55 people.

For each week we match the number of people with the required number of balls, e.g. for Week 11, we have:

55=40+15=(20×2)+(3×5)55=40+15=(20times 2)+(3times 5)

so we will draw 22 footballs and 33 quarters of a football.

The completed pictograph is:

Pictograph displaying number of players each week
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Interpreting Pictographs

To interpret pictographs, we look at the table provided, along with the key which tells us what each individual picture is worth. We can then answer questions related to the pictograph.

Example: Riley recorded how much TV she watched from Monday to Friday one week and displayed her results using a pictograph.

Displaying average tv time each day

How long did Riley spend watching TV on Thursday? Give your answer in hours and minutes.

Here, the key tells us that one picture of a TV is worth 3030 minutes.

So, looking at Thursday, we can see that there are 33 whole TVs and 11 half TV. Therefore, the total time spent watching TV on Thursday is

(3×30)+15=105(3times 30) + 15 = 105 minutes

105=60+45=1105 = 60 + 45 = 1 hour 4545 minutes

So, the total time is 11 hour and 4545 minutes.

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Pictographs Example Questions

Question 1: Jenna records the number of oranges her family eats every week for four weeks. The results are shown in the table below:

 

 

Draw a pictogram to  represent this data.

[3 marks]

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We are going to use an orange as the image for this picture (although you could use any symbol you like), so we now have to decide what our key should be. In this case, we are going to choose to make each image of an orange represent 22 oranges eaten.  It is very important in your pictogram that you have a key that states that one orange image equals two oranges eaten.

 

(You could chose to make each image equal 11 orange, which is completely acceptable. However, it would be better to have each image represent multiple oranges in order make it easier for the person viewing the data to work out  each category total.)

 

So, in week 11 there were 88 oranges eaten by Jenna’s family. 8÷2=48div2= 4, so we will have to draw 44 pictures for week 11.

 

In week 22 there were 99 oranges eaten. 9÷2=4.59div2 = 4.5, which means we will have to draw 44 whole oranges and one half-orange.

 

Continuing this process for the other two weeks, you should get a pictograph that looks like the below:

 

Pictograph displaying number of oranges eaten each week

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Question 2: Alexis tracked the distance she walked for 55 days. Her results are displayed in the pictograph below:

 

Distance walked each day displayed as a pictograph

 

a)  Work out the distance she walked on Tuesday.

b)  Alexis aimed to walk at least 66km per day. On how many days did she reach this goal?

[3 marks]

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a) On Tuesday there are 44 whole pictures of shoes, and one quarter of a picture.

 

If one picture = 22km

then

14frac{1}{4} of a picture = 2÷4=0.5 km2div 4=0.5text{ km}

 

So, the distance walked on Tuesday is

 

(4×2)+0.5=8.5 km(4times 2)+ 0.5=8.5text{ km}

 

b) 66km is her aim. Since one picture is worth 22km, then we need to find the days where there are 33 whole sets of trainers shown.

Therefore, we can see that there are 33 days – Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday – where she achieved her goal.

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Question 3: The pictogram below shows how much money was raised for charity by 66 members of a form group:

Money each student raised

 

In the pictogram, each circle represents £20£20.

a)  How many children raised more than £50£50?

b)  What fraction of the children raised less than £60£60?

c)  To the nearest pound, what was the mean amount of money raised?

[4 marks]

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a)  We have been told that each circle represents £20£20 raised.  Therefore every semi-circle represents £10£10 raised and every quarter-circle represents £5£5 raised.

 

For this question, we also need to know some common decimal facts, namely that 12=0.5frac{1}{2}=0.5, 14=0.25frac{1}{4}=0.25 and 34=0.75frac{3}{4}=0.75.

 

All we need to do is look at each member of the form group individually to work out how much they have raised each:

 

Sally:  33 circles = 3×£20=£603timespounds20=pounds60

 

Ahmed:  33 circles = 3×£20=£603timespounds20=pounds60

 

Delaine:  1141frac{1}{4} circles = 1.25×£20=£251.25timespounds20=pounds25

 

Priti:  3143frac{1}{4} circles = 3.25×£20=£653.25timespounds20=pounds65

 

Annabelle:  4124frac{1}{2} circles = 4.5×£20=£904.5timespounds20=pounds90

 

Derek:  3343frac{3}{4} circles = 3.75×£20=£753.75timespounds20=pounds75

 

We can therefore see that Sally, Ahmed, Priti, Annabelle and Derek raised more than £50£50, so 55 people raised more than £50£50.

 

b)  There were just 11 student who raised less than £60£60 and that was Delaine (do not count Sally or Ahmed since £60£60 is not less than £60£60).

 

Therefore, of the 66 students, 11 of them raised less than £60£60, so we can write this as the following fraction:

 

16dfrac{1}{6}

 

This fraction is already in its simplest form.

 

c)  We have already worked out how much money each individual student raised.  If we add up these amounts up, we will have a combined total of money raised:

 

£60+£60+£25+£65+£90+£75=£375pounds60+pounds60+pounds25+pounds65+pounds90+pounds75 = pounds375

 

Since there are 66 students, the mean amount raised will be the combined total divided by 66:

 

£375÷6=£63 to the nearest poundpounds375div6 = pounds63text{ to the nearest pound}

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Question 4: The pictogram shows some information about the number of types of butterflies in a butterfly farm:

 

Partial complete pictograph of number of butterflies by type

 

In total, there are 6060 Purple Emperors.

There are 33 times as many Red Admirals as there are Purple Emperors.

The number of Silver-studded Blue butterflies is 23frac{2}{3} the number of Red Admirals.

There are 100%100% more Black Hairstreaks than there are Silver-studded Blues.

The number of Wood Whites is 37.5%37.5% of the number of Black Hairstreaks.

 

Complete the pictograph above.

[5 marks]

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The first thing we need to do in this question is to work out how many butterflies are represented by each butterfly image in the pictograph.  We are told that there are 6060 Purple Emperors, and this is shown with 1121frac{1}{2} butterflies.

 

Therefore, each butterfly image in the pictograph must represent:

 

1 image=60÷1.5=40 butterflies1text{ image}=60div1.5 = 40text{ butterflies}

 

We are told that there are 33 times as many Red Admirals as there are Purple Emperors.  If there are 6060 Purple Emperors, then there must be

3×60=180 Red Admirals3times60 = 180 text{ Red Admirals}

 

We are told that the number of Silver-studded Blue butterflies is 23frac{2}{3} the number of Red Admirals.  If there are 180180 Red Admirals, then the number of Silver-studded Blues can be calculated as follows:

 

180×23=120 Silver-studded Blues180timesdfrac{2}{3} = 120text { Silver-studded Blues}

 

We are told that there are 100%100% more Black Hairstreaks than there are Silver-studded Blue butterflies.  This means that the number of Black Hairstreaks is double the number of Silver-studded Blues.  Since there are 120120 Silver-studded Blues, then there must be

2×120=240 Black Hairstreaks2times120 = 240 text{ Black Hairstreaks}

 

Finally, we are told that the number of Wood Whites is 37.5%37.5% of the number of Black Hairstreaks.  Since there are 240240 Black Hairstreaks, then the number of Wood Whites can be calculated as follows:

 

240×0.375=90 Wood Whites240times0.375 = 90text{ Wood Whites}

 

Since we know know exactly how many butterflies there are of each species, we now need to work out how many butterfly images to draw to represent each species total.

 

One butterfly image represents 4040 butterflies, so we can calculate the number of butterfly images we need to draw for each species as follows:

 

Red Admiral:

180÷40=4.5 butterfly images180div40=4.5text{ butterfly images}

 

Silver-studded Blue:

120÷40=3 butterfly images120div40=3text{ butterfly images}

 

Black Hairstreak:

240÷40=6 butterfly images240div40=6text{ butterfly images}

 

Wood White:

90÷40=2.25 butterfly images90div40=2.25text{ butterfly images}

 

Therefore, your final pictograph should look like the below:

 

Completed pictograph

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Question 5:  Gary has been tracking the amount of guitar practice he does over a 44-week period.

The ratio of guitar practice he does for week 11 to week 22 is 7:87 : 8.

The ratio of guitar practice he does for week 22 to week 33 is 2:12 : 1.

The ratio of guitar practice he does for week 33 to week 44 is 2:32 : 3.

Gary does 2424 hours of guitar practice in week 44.

Complete the below pictogram to represent the above information.

Blank pictograph showing hours of practice per week

[5 marks]

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The key piece of information that we have is that in week 44, Gary does 2424 hours of guitar practice.

 

We can use this key piece of information to help us solve the statement: the ratio of guitar practice he does for week 33 to week 44 is 2:32 : 3.  (This is the only statement we can try to work out at the moment, since the only known value we have is the week 44 value.)

 

If the ratio of guitar practice is 2:32 : 3 for week 33 to week 44, then we will need to find an equivalent ratio for x:24x: 24 where xx represents the week 33 value.  Since the week 44 figure is 88 times greater than the figure given in the ratio (24÷3=8)(24div3=8), then we will have an equivalent ratio if we also multiply the week 33 ratio figure by 88.

 

Since 2×8=162times8=16, Gary therefore does 1616 hours of guitar practice in week 33.

 

Since we now know the week 33 value, we can work out the week 22 value.

 

If the ratio of guitar practice is 2:12 : 1 for week 22 to week 33, then we will need to find an equivalent ratio for x:16x : 16 where xx is the week 22 value.  Since the week 33 figure is 1616 times greater than the figure given in the ratio, then we will have an equivalent ratio if we also multiply the week 22 ratio figure by 1616.

 

Since 16×2=3216times2=32, Gary therefore does 3232 hours of guitar practice in week 22.

 

Since we now know the week 22 value, we can work out the week 11 value.

 

If the ratio of guitar practice is 7:87 : 8 for week 11 to week 22, then we will need to find an equivalent ratio for x:32x : 32 where xx is the week 11 value.  Since the week 22 figure is 44 times greater than the figure given in the ratio (32÷8=4)(32div8=4), then we will have an equivalent ratio if we also multiply the week 11 ratio figure by 44.

 

Since 4×7=284times7=28, Gary therefore does 2828 hours of guitar practice in week 11.

 

Now that we have that total number of hours for weeks 11 to 44 (2828 hours, 3232 hours, 1616 hours and 2424 hours), we need to work out how to show this on the pictogram.  Since all of the above numbers are divisible by 44, then it would be logical make your pictogram image represent 44 hours of practice.

 

For week 11, you would need 28÷4=7 complete images28div4=7 text{ complete images}

 

For week 22, you would need 32÷4=8 complete images32div4=8 text{ complete images}

 

For week 33, you would need 16÷4=4 complete images16div4=4 text{ complete images}

 

For week 44, you would need 24÷4=6 complete images24div4=6 text{ complete images}

 

Your final pictogram should be similar to the below:

 

Complete pictograph example with guitars

 

(The image doesn’t have to be a guitar; it can be anything of your choice!  Keep it simple and use a circle if you like!)

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Specification Points Covered

2. interpret and construct tables, charts and diagrams, including frequency tables, bar charts, pie charts and pictograms for categorical data, vertical line charts for ungrouped discrete numerical data, tables and line graphs for time series data and know their appropriate use

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