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.
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Coordinate Plane Escape Room
Play this engaging coordinate plane escape room with your students to help them refine their coordinate grid skills.
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Battleship Coordinate Plane Game
Use this coordinate plane game to practice plotting ordered pairs on the coordinate grid.
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Coordinate Plane Printable Templates
Download these coordinate plane printable templates for use in your coordinate planes or graphing unit.
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Ordered Pair Picture Pack
Practice plotting ordered pairs with this differentiated and engaging picture pack.
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Number Talks - Data Analysis Task Cards
Build data analysis skills with this set of 26 task cards.
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Coordinate Plane Printable Poster
Display this coordinate plane printable poster in your classroom when introducing your students to coordinate grids and ordered pairs.
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Coordinate Plane Pictures
Present these coordinate plane pictures to your students to enhance their skills in plotting points in all four quadrants.
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Interpreting Graphs on the Coordinate Plane Matching Activity
Incorporate this interpreting graphs matching activity into your unit on coordinate planes.
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Plotting Points Mystery Picture — Valentine’s Day
Share this potting points mystery picture with your students on Valentine’s Day.
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Coordinate Grids Mystery Pictures
Practice plotting on coordinate grids with this set of differentiated mystery pictures.
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Count and Graph – New Year's Edition
Celebrate the new year by counting festive images and notating their totals as a bar graph.
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We're Going On a Shape Hunt! Graphing Game
Consolidate students' knowledge of 2D shapes while teaching about data collection, recording and graphing!
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Real-World Math Problems on the Coordinate Plane Worksheet Set
Interpret real-world math problems on the coordinate plane with our differentiated worksheet set.
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Analyzing Line Plots – Differentiated Worksheets
Empower your students to become proficient data interpreters with this set of differentiated line plot worksheets.
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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.
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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.
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Creating Ordered Pairs From Input-Output Tables – Worksheet
Create ordered pairs from an input-output table and determine the rule for each table with this worksheet.
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Pictograph, Bar Graph, & Dot Plot Match-Up (Scaled Intervals)
Use data analysis skills to match tally charts and frequency tables with their corresponding bar graph, pictograph, or dot plot.
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Valentine's Day Seek and Find Printable
Engage your students’ counting skills with our search and find Valentine's Day activity.
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Types of Graphs Posters
This colorful and easy-to-digest visual display shows students the varying data displays they will encounter in their elementary math lessons.
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Parts of a Graph (Color Version)
A poster showing the different parts of a graph.
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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.
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Ordering Numbers Kindergarten and 1st Grade Activity
Share this ordering numbers kindergarten and 1st grade activity with your students to give them practice ordering numbers 0 to 20 or 0 to 120.
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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.
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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.
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Coordinate Plane Activity — Four Quadrant Sort
Introduce this coordinate plane activity to students to enhance their skills in identifying ordered pairs in all four quadrants.
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Coordinate Grid Worksheets — Plotting and Perimeter
Provide your students with these coordinate grid worksheets to help them master plotting and perimeter on the coordinate plane.
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Coordinate Planes and Graphing Vocabulary Card Set
Introduce coordinate planes to your students with this set of 18 vocabulary cards.
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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!
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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.
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Data Collection Worksheet Set
Use this set of differentiated graphs worksheets to assess your students’ understanding of how data is collected, organized and presented.
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Creating Graphs Interactive Activity
Share this interactive activity with your students to help them practice using digital tools to create graphs from raw data.