Activity 01
Our Favourite Pets Survey
Pupils survey their classmates about their favourite pet (e.g., dog, cat, fish, hamster). They use a tally sheet to collect the data and then work in pairs to create a large pictogram on poster paper to display the class results.
Explain what each picture represents in your pictogram.
Facilitation TipProvide pre-cut squares of paper or stickers to ensure each picture in the pictogram is a uniform size.
What to look forObserve pupils during a group activity. Ask questions like: 'What will your title be?', 'What does your key tell us?', and 'How do you know which category has the most?'
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Activity 02
Weather Watchers Chart
For one week, the class records the daily weather using simple symbols (sun, cloud, raindrop). At the end of the week, pupils individually create a pictogram to show how many days were sunny, cloudy, or rainy.
Justify the title you chose for your pictogram.
Facilitation TipUse a large class calendar to record the daily weather symbol, providing a clear reference for pupils.
What to look forProvide pupils with a small, pre-collected data set (e.g., 5 red cars, 3 blue cars, 4 green cars) and ask them to create a complete pictogram on their own, including a title and key.
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Activity 03
Lunchbox Investigation
In small groups, pupils sort the fruit from their lunchboxes into categories (apples, bananas, oranges, etc.). They then create a pictogram on a mini-whiteboard to represent the different types of fruit in their group.
Compare the number of apples and bananas shown in the pictogram.
Facilitation TipEncourage pupils to line up the actual fruit first to form a concrete graph before drawing the pictogram.
What to look forGive pupils a simple checklist with 'I can' statements: 'I can give my pictogram a title', 'I can make a key', 'I can draw my pictures neatly'.
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Generate Complete Lesson→A few notes on teaching this unit
Begin by physically arranging objects in lines to represent data, like lining up different coloured cubes. Then, model how to translate this into a drawing on a grid, explicitly 'thinking aloud' as you create a title and a key. Emphasise that the key is the secret code that lets everyone else read the pictogram correctly.
By the end of this, your pupils will be able to conduct a simple survey and present their findings in a clear and colourful pictogram they have created themselves.
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Pupils draw pictures of different sizes, for example, a very large picture for the most popular item and a small one for the least popular.
Explain that in a pictogram, every picture must be the same size because each one represents just one item. The quantity is shown by how many pictures there are, not by how big they are.
A pupil creates the pictogram but forgets to include a title or a key.
Show an example of a pictogram without a title or key and ask the class what it could be about. This highlights that without these elements, the chart is a mystery and cannot be understood by others.
The pictures are not aligned in neat rows or columns, making it difficult to compare the categories at a glance.
Provide pupils with squared paper or a pre-drawn grid. Model how to place one picture in each box, starting from the same baseline for each category to make comparison easy.
Methods used in this brief