Using Create A Graph

Go to the Website

The Create A Graph website is: http://www.nces.ed.gov/nceskids/graphing/

Bar Graphs

  1. Go to the Create A Graph website. Click Start Making Graphs!, and then click Bar.
  2. Set Direction to Vertical; set Shape to Rectangle.
  3. In the Style area, change Legend to - no legend -.
  4. Click the Data tab on the side.
  5. Give the graph a title. Label the X-axis. Label the Y-axis.
  6. For Data Set, enter the number of bars on the graph. If your graph is a plot of two variables (one X- and one Y-axis, set the number of groups to 1.
  7. A group label is not needed for one group of data.
  8. Item 1 is the name of the first bar (category) on the graph. Name the bar (X-axis) and provide a value (Y-axis).
  9. Enter the names (categories) and values for the remaining bars on the graph.
  10. Decide what the minimum and maximum value on each axis should be. The minimum value should be a number that is smaller than the smallest data point. The maximum value should be a number that is larger than the largest data point.
  11. Click the Preview tab on the side to see your graph. If there are any problems, you can go back and fix the graph.
  12. Click Print/Save. To print your graph, click Print. 
  13. To save your graph to a disk, click Download. Choose a format and then click Download. The EMF format enables you to enlarge your graph as much as desired without losing resolution. The JPG format produces the smallest file size for documents that are e-mailed or sent to others over computer networks. Online students should use the JPG format.

Line Graphs

  1. To create a line graph, go to the Create A Graph Website, Click Line.
  2. In the Style area, change legend to - no legend -.
  3. Click the Data tab on the side.
  4. Give the graph a title, label the X-axis and the Y-axis.
  5. Enter the number of data points in the Data Set area.
  6. If your graph is two variables (one line), set the number of groups to one.
  7. Select a Point Shape.
  8. Enter values for X and Y.
  9. Decide what the minimum and maximum value on each axis should be. The minimum value should be a number that is smaller than the smallest data point. The maximum value should be a number that is larger than the largest data point. The minimum and maximum values should be numbers that are near the largest and smallest data point in order to make the most use of the space on the graph.
  10. Click the Preview tab on the side to see your graph. If there are any problems, you can go back and fix the graph.
  11. Click Print/Save. To print your graph, click Print. 
  12. To save your graph to a disk, click Download. Choose a format and then click Download. The EMF format enables you to enlarge your graph as much as desired without losing resolution. The JPG format produces the smallest file size for documents that are e-mailed or sent to others over computer networks.  Online students should use the JPG format.

Scatter plots

  1. Go to the Create A Graph Website, Click Start Making Graphs!, and then click XY.
  2. In the XY Type area, click Scatter.
  3. In the Style area, click - no legend -.
  4. Click the Data tab on the side.
  5. Give the graph a title.
  6. Give the X-axis a label.
  7. Give the Y-axis a label.
  8. Enter the number of data points in the Data Set area. The number of groups is 1.
  9. Set Point Shape to Circle.
  10. Enter values for each point.
  11. Decide what the minimum and maximum value on each axis should be. The minimum value should be a number that is smaller than the smallest data point. The maximum value should be a number that is larger than the largest data point. 
  12. Click the Preview tab on the side to see your graph. If there are any problems, you can go back and fix the graph.
  13. Click Print/Save. To print your graph, click Print. 
  14. To save your graph to a disk, click Download. Choose a format and then click Download. The EMF format enables you to enlarge your graph as much as desired without losing resolution. The JPG format produces the smallest file size for documents that are e-mailed or sent to others over computer networks.  Online students should use the JPG format.
 
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