Problem Solving

Step 1: Read the Problem.

Daniel's dad is selling his book for $15 each and records the sales on a table. Daniel thinks that a line graph will help him see the data and analyze it to know in which months it sold the best. This table shows the sales totals of each month between January and June.

Step 2: Look for important information.

First, we need to look at the table that has been given and identify the important information that needs to be added into our line graph. Labels and headings help tell what is being recorded in the table and the units of time that will be used in the graph.

We know that the units of time are months, which can be written in shortened word form.

We know that 20 is our lowest number and 50 is our highest number. This will be used to make the range for the graph.

Step 3: Create a line graph.

Using a blank line graph template we will add the labels, our units of time and the range of numbers. Since we have numbers between 20 and 50, we can round down to 0 and up to 60 so all points are visible and skip count by tens.

Next, we plot the points, starting with January which had 45 books sold. Since this is not a value that is already labelled on the left, we have to go between the 40 and 50. Make a dot in the middle of the space between 40 and 50.

Show Me

A line graph: Title: Book Sales, Scale : Books 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50. Label, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun. Plots January 45.

Next, we plot February, 30 books sold. The dot will go directly on the line of 30 above the February label.

Show Me

A line graph: Title: Book Sales, Scale : Books 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50. Label, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun. Plots January 45. February 30

Continue adding the points until all data point have been plotted.

Data Chart Title: How-to Book Sales Column 1: Title: Months, Column 2: Number of books Row 1: January 45 Row 2: February 30 Row 3: March 40 Row 4: April 30 Row 5: May 20 Row 6: June 50

Show Me

A line graph: Title: Book Sales, Scale : Books 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50. Label, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun. Plots January 45, February 30, March 40, April 30, May 20, June 50.

The final step is to add the line connecting the data points.

Show Me

A line graph: Title: Book Sales, Scale : Books 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50. Label, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun. Plots January 45, February 30, March 40, April 30, May 20, June 50. A line connects the dots from left to right of the graph.

Now that the line graph has been created, we can analyze the data and answer some questions about the information.

Step 4: Choose a way to solve and label your answer.

Let's make some observations about our graph.

We can see that the number of books sold start at 45 books in January and then it decreases to 30 books in February. The number then increases in March to 40 books. Then decreases in April and continues to decrease in May with our lowest number sold of 20 books. Finally in June the number of books sold jumps to our highest number of 50 books.