2nd grade · Math · Unit 17 of 19
Bar Graphs
Read and compare bar graphs
What your child practices
Reading bar graphs with four groups: how many more, how many fewer, how many in all, and which question a class survey can answer.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 2.10(B); 2.10(D) · organizing data in pictographs and bar graphs and drawing conclusions
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Read each bar against the numbers on the side.
- Subtract to find how many more or fewer.
- Add the bars to find how many in all.
Example: Dogs: 12. Cats: 7. How many more chose dogs? 12 − 7 = 5. Answer: 5
Bar Graphs in Texas
In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 17 of 19 in 2nd grade Math, after Graphs and before Halves, Fourths & Eighths.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Sort them: fly or swim?
Sort into: 🪽 Flies · 🌊 Swims
- 🦋butterfly
- 🐳whale
- 🦇bat
- 🐬dolphin
- 🐦bird
- 🐟fish
🪽 Flies: butterfly, bat, bird · 🌊 Swims: whale, dolphin, fish
Hint: Look at each picture and ask which group it belongs in.
Question 2
Which has the fewest?
Our favorite weather - 🌬️windy
- ❄️snowy
- 🌧️rainy
- ☀️sunny
🌧️ rainy
Hint: Find the shortest row. It has the fewest.
Question 3
How many more chose sunny than windy?
Our favorite weather - 2
- 1
- 4
- 3
3
Hint: sunny: 7. windy: 4. 7 − 4 = 3.
Question 4
How many chose butterfly or ant?
Bugs we saw - 17
- 14
- 20
- 19
17
Hint: Put the two rows together: 11 + 6 = 17.
Question 5
How many chose banana?
Our favorite fruit - 9
- 13
- 12
- 10
12
Hint: Count the 🍌 in the banana row.
Question 6
Which has more: crackers or carrots?
Our favorite snack - 🍘crackers
- 🥕carrots
🥕 carrots
Hint: Compare the two rows. The longer row has more.