The graphs below show the number of honor roll students in each grade at Bridgeport Middle School. Which statement is true?
Graph 1 Graph 2
Two bar graphs are shown.
Both graphs are titled Honor Roll Students at Bridgeport Middle School.
First graph:
The horizontal axis shows Grade Levels 6th, 7th, and 8th.
The vertical axis is labeled Number of Students and is scaled 0 to 100 by 10.
The bar for 6th grade shows slightly under than 60 students.
The bar for 7th grade shows 50 students.
The bar for 8th grade shows slightly above 50 students.
Second Graph:
The horizontal axis shows Grade Levels 6th, 7th, and 8th.
The vertical axis is labeled Number of Students and is scaled 48 to 58 by 1.
The bar for 6th grade shows 57 students.
The bar for 7th grade shows 50 students.
The bar for 8th grade shows 51 students.
A. According to Graph 2, there are more than twice as many sixth graders on the honor roll than eighth graders on the honor roll.
B. The scale on Graph 1 does not distort the differences in the numbers of students.
C. The two graphs use completely different data.
D. both: "According to Graph 2, there are more than twice as many sixth graders on the honor roll than eighth graders on the honor roll" and "The two graphs use completely different data."
3 answers
But it is clear that the data for graph 2 is stretched out so it looks bigger than for graph 1. Surely you can count the number of students of interest, just by adding up the bar heights, and compare the numbers.
Clearly, C and D are wrong, since both graphs deal with the same students.