What is a picture graph?
A picture graph shows data with small pictures instead of bars. Each category gets a row (or a column), and each picture stands for a number of things, as the key says. If the key says one smiley face means 1 child, a row of 6 faces means 6 children. In a scaled picture graph one picture stands for more than one, such as 2 or 5, and half a picture shows half that amount. The same idea is often called a pictograph, especially in older textbooks.
Here is a picture graph example: in a class survey on how children get to school, Walk has 6 faces, Bus 9, Car 4 and Bike 3. Reading it, Bus is the most common way, 5 more children come by bus than by car, and 22 children answered in all.
How to make and read a picture graph
- Collect the data first, for example with a tally chart during a class survey.
- Choose a key. With small numbers use 1 picture = 1. With numbers up to 20 or 40, a key of 2 or 5 keeps the rows short.
- Draw the pictures the same size and lined up, so longer rows really mean more.
- Read with the key. Count the pictures and multiply by the key: 4 pictures with a key of 5 means 20; a half picture adds half the key.
- Ask questions: which is the most, which is the fewest, how many more, how many in all.
| Grade | Picture graph skill | Common Core |
|---|---|---|
| 1st grade | Organize and read data in up to three categories | 1.MD.C.4 |
| 2nd grade | Draw a picture graph with a single-unit key; put-together, take-apart and compare problems | 2.MD.D.10 |
| 3rd grade | Draw a scaled picture graph; "how many more" and "how many less" questions | 3.MD.B.3 |
Picture graph maker, worksheets and template
Picture graph maker: type a title, up to 8 categories with their numbers, and what one count means (children, votes, books). Pick a smiley face, star, circle, heart or square, a key of 1, 2, 5 or 10, and rows or columns. When a number doesn't divide evenly by the key, the last picture is cut to show the part, so a key of 2 shows 7 as three and a half pictures. Your data stays on this page and is never sent anywhere.
Picture graph worksheets: choose a data set (favorite fruit, pets, colors, sports, weather or books read in a week) and 3 to 6 rows. Read the graph shows the picture graph with five questions; every row has a different number, so "most" and "fewest" always have one answer, and with a key of 2 or 10 some rows end in a half picture. Draw the graph gives the numbers in a table and an empty grid to draw on. Answers fills in the questions or the pictures, and New worksheet draws new numbers. These picture graph worksheets suit 1st to 3rd grade.
Blank picture graph template: an empty graph with a title line, a key line and boxes for up to 12 pictures per row, ready for any survey. To turn the same data into bars, try graph paper.
How we tested this tool
We checked the tool by script in Google Chrome on Windows across 1,564 sheets: read-the-graph and draw-the-graph worksheets for all six data sets with 3 to 6 rows, keys of 1, 2, 5 and 10, rows and columns, with and without answers, on Letter and A4, plus graphs made from typed data (from 0 up to 200 in a row, long category names, up to 8 rows) and blank templates. In 6,960 rows the pictures multiplied by the key add up exactly to each number, including half and partial pictures; every worksheet row has a different number that the key can show as whole or half pictures; and the five answers (how many, most, fewest, how many more, in all) were recomputed from the graph and matched. No picture row runs past its box, no column grows above its space, nothing leaves the page and no two labels overlap. The first version wrote "= 1 children" in the key; with a key of 1 it now says "= 1 child" or "= 1 vote". We printed sheets to PDF with Microsoft Edge (one US Letter portrait page) and tested the page at a 375 px phone width.
Frequently asked questions
What is a picture graph?
A graph that uses small pictures to show data. Each row or column is a category, and a key tells you how many each picture stands for, such as 1 picture = 1 child or 1 picture = 5 votes.
What is a scaled picture graph?
A picture graph where one picture stands for more than one, such as 2, 5 or 10. You multiply the number of pictures by the key, and a half picture counts as half the key. Scaled picture graphs are a 3rd grade skill.
What is the difference between a picture graph and a pictograph?
In school math they mean the same thing: data shown with pictures and a key. “Picture graph” is the term used in the Common Core; many older books and teachers say pictograph.
How do you read a picture graph with a key?
Count the pictures in a row, then multiply by the number in the key. With a key of 2, five pictures mean 10 and four and a half pictures mean 9.
Can I make a picture graph from my own data?
Yes. Choose Picture graph maker, type a title and your categories with their numbers, pick a picture and a key, and print it in rows or columns or save it as a PDF.
Is there an answer key?
Yes. Set Answers to Show and print again. Read-the-graph sheets get the answers to the five questions, and draw-the-graph sheets get the pictures drawn in, on the same data.