Hinglish

Artistic and Aesthetic Considerations

Class 6 Maths · Chapter 4: Data Handling and Presentation · NCERT Ganita Prakash section 4.5

Learn

Here are some of the highest peaks in India, in metres. A table of numbers is hard to compare, but a bar graph makes it clear at a glance. Heights go up from the ground, so vertical bars (columns) look natural, like mountains.

Lengths along the ground, like distances between cities or lengths of rivers, look natural with horizontal bars. Good colours and simple pictures make a graph pleasant and easy to understand.

But be careful: a 'fancy' graph can mislead. This graph of two classes' average marks starts at 55, not 0. Class A's bar looks almost three times as tall as B's, but A scored 64 and B scored 61: only 3 marks more!

64 − 61 = 3

Explore: Tenzin made a graph of books lent by his school library each year, but some bars are wrong. Fix them using his table: 2021 1,200 · 2022 1,500 · 2023 2,100 · 2024 2,600 · 2025 3,300.

  1. Fix the wrong bars.
  2. Between which two years did lending grow the most? Tap it.

Remember

  • Heights: vertical bars (columns). Lengths along the ground: horizontal bars.
  • A graph should not mislead: start the scale at 0 and keep it honest.

Quick check

A bar graph's axis starts at 55 instead of 0. What can go wrong?

  1. Small differences look big
  2. The bars get wider
  3. The numbers change
  4. Nothing at all
Answer

Small differences look big. Cutting off the bottom makes small differences look much bigger than they are.

Think about it

Kangchenjunga is 8,586 m high and Anamudi, the highest peak in South India, is 2,695 m. About how many times as high is Kangchenjunga?

One answer

About 3 times: 2,695 × 3 = 8,085, a little less than 8,586. (The difference is 8,586 − 2,695 = 5,891 m.)

Practice

Practise with fresh questions at three levels (easy, medium, hard), some answered hands-on, with hints and worked answers. Get 4 of your last 5 right to finish the topic.