Statistics: Charts and Tally
Statistics: Charts and Tally covers collecting data with tally marks, grouped in fives, and then displaying it as a tally chart, a simple block diagram or a pictogram, so it can be read and compared at a glance.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Start concrete: collect a real, physical set of data first, sort real objects such as buttons, shoes or fruit into groups by a category, and count each group by hand.
- Practise tallying concretely: record each item as it is counted with a single tally mark, teaching the 'gate' of four upright lines plus one diagonal line for every group of five, so groups of five can be counted quickly at the end.
- Move to pictorial: transfer the tally totals into a block diagram, one square or block per item, stacked in a column for each category, or into a pictogram, one picture standing for one item or more if a key is used.
- Go abstract by reading the completed chart to answer questions without recounting from scratch, for example finding the total, the category with the most or fewest, or the difference between two categories.
- Always check the KEY on a pictogram before answering any question about it: a symbol might stand for 1, 2, 5 or 10 real items, and skipping this step is the single most common cause of wrong answers.
- Watch for the classic misconception of judging a block diagram or pictogram purely by which column looks tallest or widest, rather than counting the actual value shown, especially when the chart is not drawn to a perfectly even scale.
- Watch for children forgetting to count a HALF symbol on a pictogram, worth half the key value, or miscounting a tally group as 4 instead of 5 by missing the diagonal line across the gate.
Worked example
A block diagram shows how many pets each child owns: Percy has a column of 3 blocks, Reuben has a column of 5 blocks, and Saskia has a column of 2 blocks. How many more pets does Reuben have than Saskia, and how many pets are there in total?
- Read the height of Reuben's column: 5 blocks, so Reuben has 5 pets.
- Read the height of Saskia's column: 2 blocks, so Saskia has 2 pets.
- Find the difference between the two: 5 - 2 = 3, so Reuben has 3 more pets than Saskia.
- Add all three columns together for the total: 3 + 5 + 2 = 10.
- Reuben has 3 more pets than Saskia, and there are 10 pets in total.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1A block diagram shows favourite drinks. Squash has a column of 9 blocks. Juice has a column of 5 blocks. How many more children chose squash than juice?Show answer
Answer: 4 more children (9 - 5 = 4)
Q2In a tally chart, red cars are recorded with the marks: |||| |||| ||. How many red cars is this?Show answer
Answer: 12 cars (two full groups of 5 make 10, plus 2 more makes 12)
Q3A pictogram key shows 1 flower picture = 5 plants grown in the garden. A row has 2 whole flower pictures. How many plants does this represent?Show answer
Answer: 10 plants (2 x 5 = 10)
Q4A block diagram shows how many books 3 children read: Percy 4 books, Saskia 7 books, Reuben 3 books. Which child read the most books?Show answer
Answer: Saskia (7 books is the highest column)
Q5A tally chart shows 8 tally marks for football and 5 tally marks for swimming as favourite sports. How many children voted in total for these two sports?Show answer
Answer: 13 children (8 + 5 = 13)
Q6A pictogram key shows 1 football picture = 6 goals scored this season. A row shows half a football picture. How many goals does this represent?Show answer
Answer: 3 goals (half of 6 is 3)
Q7In a tally chart, tally marks are grouped in fives. If a category has exactly 3 full groups of five and no extra marks, how many tallies does it have in total?Show answer
Answer: 15 tallies (3 groups of 5 is 3 x 5 = 15)
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a KS1 Maths exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
A tally chart shows how children travel to school: Walk |||| |||| |, Car |||| ||, Bus |||| |||| ||||. How many children travel by bus, and how many children were counted altogether? Show your working.
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 3 available
A pictogram shows favourite pets, using the key 1 paw picture = 3 votes. Dogs have 4 whole paw pictures. Aditi says this means dogs got 4 votes, without using the key. Explain the mistake Aditi has made, and give the correct number of votes for dogs.
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 3 available
A block diagram shows how many minutes 3 children spent reading: Otis 25 minutes, Wilf 40 minutes, Cora 15 minutes. What is the total reading time for all 3 children, and what is the difference between the highest and lowest reading times?
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 3 available
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the statistics: charts and tally worksheet pack - 15 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
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