Graphing Your Data

Showing patterns & trends

A picture is
worth a
thousand words!

Regents Biology 2008-2009

 Types of data (information)
 Variables
 what you measure in an experiment
 dependent variable
 measured variable
 unpredictable change: we don’t know how it
will change until we do the experiment
 Y-axis
The effect of
 independent variable INDEPENDENT
_____________
on
 manipulated variable DEPENDENT
_____________
 predictable change: it only
changes because we chose
how it would change
Regents Biology X-axis 2005-2006
 Examples of experiments 1
 How does fertilizer affect the growth rate
of plants?
 we set up an experiment testing different
amounts of fertilizer on different plants &
measuring the growth (height) of the
plants:
The effect of
 dependent variable (Y-axis)? Amount of Fertilizer
_____________
 height of plants on
Height of Plants
_____________
 independent variable (X-axis)?
 amount of fertilizer

Regents Biology 2005-2006

 Examples of experiments 2
 How does exercise affect heart rate of
10th grade student?
 we set up an experiment testing
different lengths of time of exercise
(minutes) on the heart rate of students:
 dependent variable (Y-axis)?
The effect of
 heart rate Exercise
_____________
 independent variable (X-axis)? on
Heart Rate
_____________
 minutes of exercise

Regents Biology 2005-2006

 Examples of experiments 3
 What’s the favorite drink of students?
 we set up an experiment surveying
students and asking which is their
favorite drink :
 dependent variable (Y-axis)?
 number of students
The effect of
 independent variable (X-axis)? Type of Drink
_____________
 type of drink on
How many students chose it
_____________

Regents Biology 2005-2006

 Making pictures out of data
 Graphs How’s a critter
to choose?
 line graphs
 graphing data that shows continuous change
 bar graphs (or histograms)
 graphing data that is in disconnected groups

Regents Biology 2005-2006

 How does elevation affect temperature?
elevation temp.
30 Line graph! (feet above (°C)
sea level)
0 30
25
500 25
temperature

201 1000 20
1500 15
8
15 2000 10
2500 5
10
1200 ft?
5

0
Regents Biology
0 500 1200 1500
1000 2000 2500 2005-2006
elevation
 Which drink do you like best?
drink number
6
Bar graph! Coke 1
Pepsi 1
5
number of students

Water 4
Iced tea 4
4 Gatorade 3

2
Red Bull?
1

0
RB PepsiRB water
Coke tea Gatorade2005-2006
Regents Biology
type of drink
 Any Questions??

Regents Biology 2008-2009