Activity 4a: On Pie and Column Graphs

Write all of your answers and show all your work in a Word document.

Most of the following questions refer to Table 227.

Question 1 through 4 are designed to help you see the difference between the data in Column D and the data in Column F. So you might want to study this data yourselves before starting into these questions. Remember, when a sentence reads - A certain percentage of ______________ are such and so. The quantity in the blank is always the whole. For example in this line - 50% of the students in this class are getting good grades - "the students in this class" represents the whole. You always want to pay attention to whole in a percentage of statement.

1. From the data in Row 29, we know that there were 25,819 thousand male students in K-12 in 2003. We know that 569 thousand of these students were homeschooled. We also know by looking in Row 18 that there were 1,096 thousand homeschooled children altogether. Locate these numbers in the Excel file.

a. What percentage of homeschooled children were male?

b. Does the data in Column D or F correspond to this calculation?

c. What percentage of male students were homeschooled?

d. Does the data in Column D or F correspond to this calculation?

e. Is the data in Column D or F appropriate pie-chart data? How can you tell? Explain.

2. Make a single graph to represent each of the following questions. They are NOT the same question.

a. What percentage of homeschooled children were male and what percentage were female in 2003?

b. What percentage of males and what percentage of females were homeschooled in 2003?

3. Here are two possible charts of  home schooling.

a. Which one of these charts was made from the data in Column D and which from the data in Column F?

b. Which one of these two charts answers the question:  Which race is more likely to home-school their children?
c. Why is the bar chart more interesting than the pie chart?

4.

Which of the following could be surmised from the above chart? Circle one and then answer the question below.

i. 5.3% of Hispanic students are homeschooled.

ii. 9.4% of Black students are homeschooled.

iii. 77% of all homeschooled students are white.

Why is this not a very interesting or surprising chart?

5. Common mistakes. Learn to find them now, so I won’t find them on your graphs later!

a. What is wrong with this pie chart?

b. What is wrong with this pie chart?

c. What is missing in this pie chart? (two things)

d. What is the title of this graph missing? (one small, but important fact)