Best for
Students moving beyond “make any graph” and learning how the type of variable and question should shape the data display they choose.
Pāngarau / Mathematics • Statistics • Years 5-8
Choosing Data Displays
Not every graph tells every story well. This handout helps ākonga match the data question to the right display, justify the choice, and sketch a graph that makes sense to a real audience.
Free class-ready resource, premium progression path
This page is useful on its own. If your team wants a whole statistics sequence with local datasets, bilingual prompts, or assessment variants, Te Wānanga can expand it into a stronger progression.
- Swap in your own class or rohe inquiry contexts.
- Create junior, core, and extension decision tasks.
- Store adapted versions in My Kete for future terms.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 40-50 minutes.
- Grouping: Pairs first, independent justification second.
- Prep: Highlighters or coloured pencils help students mark the key features of each graph type.
- Teaching move: Keep linking the graph choice to the question being asked, not just to student preference.
Resources already provided
- Graph-family quick reference
- Scenario matching task
- Sketch space for one chosen graph
- Graph-quality checklist
- Teacher-only curriculum companion
Students do not need a second worksheet to complete the task.
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning how different graph types suit different kinds of data.
- We are learning how to justify a graph choice using the question and variable.
- We are learning how to avoid graph choices that hide the real pattern.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can match a scenario to a suitable graph type.
- I can explain why my graph choice fits the data better than another option.
- I can sketch a graph with clear labels and purpose.
Curriculum integration / Te Mātaiaho alignment
This handout supports the move from simply drawing a graph to choosing and defending a data visualisation that fits the variable, the question, and the audience.
Why this matters in Aotearoa
Students in Aotearoa regularly see data on weather, sports, school attendance, conservation, transport, housing, and public health. Choosing the wrong graph can make a message confusing before anyone has even started interpreting the numbers.
Strong graph choice is part of being a careful communicator. In a mātauranga Māori-informed classroom, the display should help whānau, boards, and communities see the pattern honestly rather than hiding it behind a poor visual choice.
Graph family quick reference
Bar graph
Best for comparing categories such as favourite lunchtime activity, sports code, or transport mode.
Line graph / time-series graph
Best for showing change over time such as daily temperature, river height, or reading minutes across a week.
Dot plot
Best for showing individual values and the spread of numerical data such as plant heights or jump distances.
Pictograph
Best for simple class data when the audience is younger and the picture key stays clear.
Match the scenario to the best graph
| Scenario | Best graph type | Why does it fit? |
|---|---|---|
| How the temperature at the kura garden changed over five school days | ||
| Favourite games students play at interval | ||
| Lengths of harakeke leaves collected for weaving practice | ||
| Books borrowed from the library by genre in one week |
If two graph types might work, explain which one would communicate the pattern most clearly to the audience you have in mind.
Sketch one graph
Choose one scenario from the table and sketch how you would show the data.
My chosen graph type
Why this is the best choice
Graph quality checklist
- My title tells the reader what the data is about.
- I have named the variable or categories clearly.
- The scale and labels match the kind of data I have.
- The graph makes the pattern easier to understand, not harder.
- I could explain to another student why I chose this display.
Support
Offer students a reduced choice set first: bar graph or line graph. Then widen the options once they can justify the first decision.
Core
Students match each scenario to a display and give one reason grounded in the variable or time pattern.
Stretch
Ask students to argue why one alternative graph would be less clear or potentially misleading.
Neurodiversity and inclusion note
Keep the scenarios concise, use visual examples on the board, and let students talk through choices before writing. The reasoning matters more than long written answers.
Kaiako reminder
When students say “any graph works”, push them back to the question. The right graph depends on the story the data can honestly tell.
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Mathematics — Pāngarau
Level 3–4: Apply number operations, statistical analysis, and mathematical reasoning to solve real-world problems; represent data using appropriate tools; interpret and communicate mathematical findings clearly.
Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi
Level 3–4: Understand how mathematical data and statistics are used to describe and analyse social, economic, and environmental patterns; recognise how data can reveal or obscure inequality.
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
Mathematics has always been part of mātauranga Māori — in the navigation of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, in the architectural precision of wharenui, in the sophisticated storage and accounting systems of rua kūmara, and in the patterns of kōwhaiwhai and tukutuku that encode mathematical relationships in visual form. When Māori students engage with mathematics, they are not encountering something foreign: they are meeting a domain of knowledge that their tīpuna practised with extraordinary sophistication. Framing mathematical learning through whakapapa — connecting concepts to real Māori contexts — is not "cultural add-on" but recognition of where much mathematical knowledge lives in this land.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Support Materials
This handout is designed to be used alongside the broader unit resources available at Te Kete Ako handouts library. Related resources from the same unit are linked in the unit planner. All resources are provided — no additional preparation is required to use this handout in your classroom.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will engage with this resource to build pāngarau (mathematical) understanding — developing number sense, pattern recognition, and mathematical reasoning through hands-on, culturally grounded activities that connect to tamariki's world.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can explain their mathematical thinking using words, objects, drawings, or symbols.
- ✅ Students can apply the number or pattern concept in this resource to a real or everyday context.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Use concrete materials (blocks, counters, fingers) for entry-level engagement before progressing to abstract representations. Offer extension challenges asking students to generalise a pattern, write their own word problem, or explain their strategy to a partner.
ELL / ESOL: Mathematical language is a discipline-specific barrier — pre-teach key terms (e.g., equals, more than, fewer, pattern, factor) using visual representations. Allow students to demonstrate mathematical understanding non-verbally or through drawing. Pair with a bilingual buddy where possible.
Inclusion: Embed choice in how students engage — oral, written, or diagrammatic responses are all valid. Neurodiverse learners benefit from short, chunked task sequences with immediate feedback loops. Avoid timed drills in favour of exploratory tasks that reward curiosity. Make the maths classroom a safe place to be wrong and try again.
Mātauranga Māori lens: Pāngarau is a living tradition in Te Ao Māori — from the geometric precision of tukutuku and kōwhaiwhai patterns to the navigational mathematics of waka hourua, and the seasonal calculations embedded in maramataka. Framing early number sense within these contexts shows tamariki that mathematics is a human, culturally rich endeavour — not a foreign import. Encourage students to see counting, measuring, and patterning as acts of knowing their world.
Prior knowledge: Designed for early learners. No prior formal mathematics knowledge required. Teachers should assess current number knowledge before selecting appropriate entry points.
Curriculum alignment
- Number and Algebra — Number Strategies: Use a range of counting, grouping, and equal-sharing strategies with whole numbers and fractions.
- Number and Algebra — Patterns and Relationships: Generalise that the next counting number gives the result of adding one object to a set and that counting the number of objects in a set tells how many.