Reading a bar graph

In your book, Maths Mela (Chapter 15, Data Through Pictures), Raman and Sheela each record how they spend one day. Raman uses a table of icons, where 1 icon = 1 hour: sleeping 9 icons, time in school 6, studying 2, eating and playing 6, and other activities 1.

Sheela shows her hours in a different way, with bars. The horizontal base at the bottom names the activities. The vertical line at the side is marked with numbers of hours, from 0 up to 10. Each bar goes up to the number of hours spent on that activity. Sheela's bars reach 8 for sleeping, 7 for time in school, 4 for studying, 3 for eating and playing, and 2 for other activities. This way of showing data is called a bar graph.

To read a bar graph, go to the top of a bar and look across to the numbers on the vertical line. A taller bar means a bigger number. Both children's hours add up to a whole day: Raman 9 + 6 + 2 + 6 + 1 = 24, and Sheela 8 + 7 + 4 + 3 + 2 = 24.

Now we can compare. Raman sleeps 9 hours and Sheela 8, so Raman sleeps more. Sheela spends 7 hours in school and Raman 6, so Sheela spends more. Sheela studies 4 hours and Raman 2, so Sheela studies 4 − 2 = 2 hours more. No activity has the same time for both of them.