Unit Plan 9 (Grade 3 Math): Picture & Bar Graphs—Ask/Answer “How Many More/Fewer?”
Create and interpret single-unit picture and bar graphs with clear titles, labels, and keys; compare categories to answer how many more/fewer and total questions in one- and two-step contexts.
Focus: Draw picture graphs and bar graphs with single-unit scales; interpret and compare, answering how many more/fewer and total/remaining questions.
Grade Level: 3
Subject Area: Mathematics (Measurement & Data; Operations in Context)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Students learn to collect small categorical data sets, then represent them with single-unit picture graphs and bar graphs. They read titles, labels, and keys; compare categories; and solve one- and two-step questions such as how many more/fewer and how many in all. Tool use (rulers, templates) supports precision.
Essential Questions
- How do titles, labels, and keys help me make sense of a graph?
- What does how many more/fewer mean, and how do I show it on a bar or picture graph?
- When should I use a table, a picture graph, or a bar graph to tell a data story?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Organize categorical data in tables and transfer it to single-unit picture graphs and bar graphs.
- Label titles, axes, and keys accurately; draw bars aligned to a single-unit scale.
- Answer how many more/fewer, how many in all, and how many left using graph evidence.
- Solve one- and two-step word problems set in graph contexts and write equations with an unknown.
- Use appropriate tools (ruler, templates, digital graph) to improve clarity and precision.
Standards Alignment — CCSS Grade 3
- 3.MD.3: Draw a scaled picture graph and a bar graph to represent a data set with several categories; solve one- and two-step “how many more/less” problems using information presented in the graphs. (This unit uses single-unit scales to build Grade 3 foundations.)
- 3.OA.3 (context): Use multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems in situations involving equal groups/arrays/measurement quantities (applied as needed in two-step graph problems).
- Mathematical Practices: MP.5 (Use appropriate tools strategically) emphasized.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can make a picture or bar graph with clear titles, labels, and a key/scale.
- I can use the graph to explain how many more/fewer and how many in all.
- I can write an equation with an unknown that matches a graph problem and check my answer.