Types of Graphs Teaching Resources
Teach your students the different types of graphs with printable graphing activities, worksheets, games and more data activities created by teachers for teachers like you!
Aligned with both TEKS and the Common Core math curriculum, the printables and digital activities in this collection can help you not just introduce each type of graph but also give your students practice using each one to represent and analyze data.
Whether it's your first year covering the various types of graphs in your math classes, or you're just looking for some handy tips and tricks, the Teach Starter teacher team has you covered. Read on for a primer that covers some of the main graph types plus a handy way to explain what a graph is to your students.
What Is a Graph? A Kid-Friendly Definition
Before you can start discussing the various graph types, it helps to explain what a graph is in math. That's where our definition could come in handy!
A graph is a visual way to show data. Graphs help make information easier to understand and analyze.
What Are the Different Types of Graphs?
There is a long list of different types of graphs that mathematicians use to represent numbers and other forms of data. So, which graph types do your students need to know about right now?
Let's take a look at the more common graphing types we use in elementary and middle school math classes:
1. Bar Graphs
A bar graph is a type of graph that uses rectangular shapes called bars to represent quantities or values of data. Bars on a bar graph will be different heights or different lengths to represent the quantity or value.
This makes it easy to compare the values.
2. Line Graphs
A line graph uses points that are connected by lines to show the relationship between two sets of data.
Line graphs are helpful when we want to see changes in data sets over a period of time.
3. Pictographs
The "picto" in pictographs refers to pictures, which are used in this graph type to represent data.
4. Pie Charts
Did you know that a graph is a kind of chart? Although pie charts may not be called "pie graphs," these circles divided by lines to resemble slices of pie are most definitely a type of graph.
Pie charts can be used to represent parts of a whole or categories of a whole, and they help us understand the proportion or percentage of each category.
- Free Plan
Plotting Points Mystery Picture — Valentine’s Day
Share this potting points mystery picture with your students on Valentine’s Day.
- Free Plan
Number Talks - Data Analysis Task Cards
Build data analysis skills with this set of 26 task cards.
- Free Plan
Valentine's Day Seek and Find Printable
Engage your students’ counting skills with our search and find Valentine's Day activity.
- Free Plan
Battleship Coordinate Plane Game
Use this coordinate plane game to practice plotting ordered pairs on the coordinate grid.
- Free Plan
Coordinate Plane Printable Templates
Download these coordinate plane printable templates for use in your coordinate planes or graphing unit.
- Plus Plan
Graphing Data Worksheets (Coordinate Plane)
Introduce these graphing data worksheets to your students to give them practice graphing real-world situations on the coordinate plane.
- Plus Plan
Coordinate Plane Escape Room
Play this engaging coordinate plane escape room with your students to help them refine their coordinate grid skills.
- Plus Plan
Real-World Math Problems on the Coordinate Plane Worksheet Set
Interpret real-world math problems on the coordinate plane with our differentiated worksheet set.
- Plus Plan
Plotting Points on a Coordinate Plane Worksheet Set
Utilize our Plotting Points on a Coordinate Plane Worksheet Set to give your students practice locating and plotting points on a coordinate grid.
- Plus Plan
Spin, Tally, Graph and Interpret Data – Task Card Activity
Guide your students to collect data, make tally marks, create a bar graph and analyze data with this math activity designed for 1st and 2nd-grade students.
- Free Plan
Coordinate Plane Printable Poster
Display this coordinate plane printable poster in your classroom when introducing your students to coordinate grids and ordered pairs.
- Plus Plan
Pictograph Cut and Paste Worksheet
Use this fun cut-and-paste worksheet to build student understanding of pictographs and encourage them to practice their fine motor skills.
- Plus Plan
Equations, Tables, and Graphs, Oh My! – Differentiated Worksheets
Use these differentiated worksheets to practice using equations to create patterns within input-output tables and graphs.
- Plus Plan
Graphing Using Input-Output Tables – Differentiated Worksheets
Use data from input-output tables to graph points with this set of differentiated worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Picture Graph Templates
A set of blank picture graph templates for students to represent data.
- Plus Plan
Bar Graph Anchor Chart
Hang this bar graph anchor chart in your classroom to teach your students about the different parts of this commonly used graph.
- Plus Plan
Dot Plots / Line Plots - 4th & 5th Grade Assessment
Assess student understanding of reading and creating line plots with a printable math test for 5th grade.
- Plus Plan
5th Grade Math Review – Google Slides Interactive Activity
Review important 5th-grade math standards with a student-led interactive activity that covers 12 different mathematical concepts.
- Plus Plan
Graph It! Worksheet (Scaled Intervals)
Draw a scaled picture graph and bar graph to represent data with this worksheet.
- Free Plan
We're Going On a Shape Hunt! Graphing Game
Consolidate students' knowledge of 2D shapes while teaching about data collection, recording and graphing!
- Plus Plan
Coordinate Plane Games — "Roll and Graph"
Play our coordinate plane games in your classroom to enhance students’ ability to plot points and find the distance between them.
- Plus Plan
Coordinate Plane Pictures
Present these coordinate plane pictures to your students to enhance their skills in plotting points in all four quadrants.
- Plus Plan
Sports Day Dilemma - Metric Conversions Math Task
Engage students with a real-world application of measurement conversions with Sports Day Dilemma, a metric conversion math task!
- Plus Plan
Data Collection Worksheet Set
Use this set of differentiated graphs worksheets to assess your students’ understanding of how data is collected, organized and presented.
- Plus Plan
Looking at Line Plots With Fractions Task Cards
Challenge your students to analyze a line plot with fractions and answer questions with this this set of 24 task cards.
- Plus Plan
Bar Graphs Worksheet
Use this double-sided bar graphs worksheet to check your students’ understanding of interpreting and drawing bar graphs.
- Plus Plan
Interpreting Graphs Task Cards
Use this set of task cards students to practice interpreting bar graphs, histograms and line plots.
- Plus Plan
Graphing on the Coordinate Plane Teaching Slides
Teach your students how to plot points on a graph using ordered pairs from input-output tables with this set of teaching slides.
- Plus Plan
Picture Graphs - Worksheet
Use this double-sided worksheet to help your students practice reading and evaluating a simple picture graph.
- Plus Plan
Pictograph Puzzles
Practice reading and interpreting pictographs with these fun puzzles which require students to match pictographs with other data displays with matching data.
- Plus Plan
5th Grade Math Review – Test Prep Packet
Encourage your students to work through 8 pages of 5th-grade math problems while charting their progress to measure their success.
- Plus Plan
5th Grade Algebraic Relationships Assessment
Assess student understanding of prime and composite numbers, numerical expressions, graphing numerical patterns, and more with this math assessment.