Line Graphs

Line Graph: a graph that shows information connected in some way (usually as it changes over time).

You record the temperature outside your house and get these results:

Table: Temperature 22 Feb
8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00
24° 32° 36° 29°

You are interested to see how it rises and falls, so decide to make a line graph:

Line graph showing temperature rising from 24° at 8:00 to 36° at 12:00, then dropping to 29° at 14:00

It makes the data come alive, right?
You can see how much it cooled down after lunch.

When should we use a line graph?
Line graphs are best when the data has continuous change (like temperature or height). Connecting the dots makes sense!

If the data is in separate categories (like colors or types of pets), a Bar Graph is a better choice.

Making Line Graphs

You can create graphs like that using the Data Graphs (Bar, Line and Pie) page.

Or you can draw it yourself!

Example: Ice Cream Sales

Table: Ice Cream Sales
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
$410 $440 $550 $420 $610 $790 $770

Let's make the vertical scale go from $0 to $800, with check mark marks every $200

Vertical line with check mark marks from bottom to top
Draw a vertical scale with check mark marks

Vertical axis labeled Sales in dollars with marks from $0 to $800
Label the check mark marks, and give the scale a label

Graph axes with days Monday through Sunday marked on the horizontal axis
Draw a horizontal scale with check mark marks and labels

Points plotted for each day based on ice cream sales values
Put a dot for each data value

Complete line graph titled Ice Cream Sales with plotted points connected by line segments
Connect the dots and give the graph a title

Important! Make sure to have:

683, 684, 1430, 1431, 1432, 2151, 2152, 2153, 3770, 3771
Make a Line Graph Bar Graphs Pie Charts Pictographs Histograms Data Index