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5.8: Pictographs

Difficulty Level: At Grade Created by: CK-12

Look at the pictograph below. Can you compare the number of books that Fred has to the number of books that Eliza has? In this concept, we will learn to interpret and work with pictographs like the one below.

Guidance

In order to interpret pictographs and answer questions like the one above, use the problem solving steps to help you.

• First, describe what you see and what information you are given.
• Next, identify what your job is and what you are trying to solve. In these problems, your job will be to compare the number of items that one student has to the number of items that another student has. Or, for some problems, your job might be to determine the correct key for the pictograph.
• Third, make a plan for how you will solve.
• Fourth, solve the problem.

Example A

Look at the pictograph below and answer the question.

Solution:

We can use problem solving steps to help.

Describe: I see a graph. There are four students. There are pictures of pencils after each student's name. The key shows that each pencil picture stands for 6 pencils.

My Job: Figure out the difference in the number of pencils for Sam and Wendy.

Plan: Use the key. Figure out the number of pencils for Sam and Wendy. Then subtract to find the difference.

Solve: Sam has 4 fewer pencil pictures than Wendy. Each pencil picture stands for 6 pencils. $4 \times 6 = 24$ . Sam has 24 fewer pencils than Wendy.

Check: Sam: $6+6+6=18$ pencils.

Wendy: $6+6+6+6+6+6+6=42$ pencils.
42-18=24

Example B

Look at the pictograph below and answer the question.

Solution:

We can use problem solving steps to help.

Describe: I see a graph. There are four students. There are pictures of board games after each student's name. The key shows that each board game picture stands for 3 board games.

My Job: Figure out the difference in the number of board games for Kyle and Jan.

Plan: Use the key. Figure out the number of board games for Kyle and Jan. Then subtract to find the difference.

Solve: Kyle has 3 more board game pictures than Jan. Each board game picture stands for 3 board games. $3 \times 3 = 9$ . Kyle has 9 more board games than Jan.

Check: Jan: $3+3=6$ board games.

Kyle: $3+3+3+3+3=15$ board games.
15-6=9

Example C

Look at the pictograph below and answer the question.

Solution:

We can use problem solving steps to help.

Concept Problem Revisited

We can use the problem solving steps to help.

Vocabulary

A pictograph is a way of representing information where pictures stand for a certain number of items. In this concept, we saw pictographs that gave us information on the relative number of certain objects that different students had.

Guided Practice

Look at the pictographs below and answer the questions.

1.

2.

3.

1. 36; There are 4 more symbols after Ralph’s name than after Vince’s name, so Ralph has $4 \times 9$ , or 36 more markers than Vince.

2. 20; There are 4 more symbols after Olya’s name than after Nat’s name. Each symbol stands for 5 puzzles, so Olya has $4 \times 5$ , or 20 more puzzles than Nat.

3. 2; There are 3 fewer symbols after Gary’s name than after Ellen’s name. The FACT tells us that Gary has 6 fewer stuffed animals than Ellen. So 3 symbols equal 6 animals. Each symbol stands for $6 \div 3$ , or 2 stuffed animals.

Practice

Look at the pictographs below and answer the questions.

Jan 18, 2013