Grade by Grade
D. Data · Data Literacy and Probability

Creating an Infographic with Tables and Circle Graphs

D1.4 D1.3 A1About 60 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can plan an infographic that tells a clear story about a data set.
  • I can include a table and a circle graph that represent the data correctly.
  • I can add a headline, key numbers, a short explanation and a source.
  • I can give and use feedback to improve an infographic.

Words to know

infographic
A poster or page that uses graphs, tables, key numbers, pictures and a few words to tell a story about data quickly.
headline
A short, bold title that tells the main message.
key statistic
One important number pulled out and shown large, like "75%".
call to action
A sentence that tells readers what they can do with the information.

Remember from Grade 6

You planned infographics that tell a story about data, and you used feedback to improve them. In Grade 7, your infographic should include tables and circle graphs, and use percentages to show the distribution.

Data that tells a story

The Grade 7 Eco Team at Pine Hill P.S. weighed all the lunch waste for one week in February. They sorted it into organics (food scraps for the green bin), recycling and garbage. They want everyone in the school to understand the results in about ten seconds while walking past a poster. A page of numbers won't do that. An infographic will.

A good infographic has:

  1. A headline with the main message.
  2. One or two key statistics shown large.
  3. A graph that fits the data, like a circle graph for parts of a whole.
  4. A small table for details people may want to check.
  5. A few words that explain what it means.
  6. A source (who collected the data, when and how).
  7. Often a call to action: what should readers do?
A green bin, a blue bin and a black bin side by side against a wall in a school lunchroom.
Green bin for organics, blue bin for recycling and black bin for garbage: weighing what goes into each bin gives the Eco Team its data. AI-generated image
Where Does Our Lunch Waste Go?Pine Hill P.S. waste audit, one week in February40%35%25%Organics 40%Recycling 35%Garbage 25%75%did NOT need to be garbageTotal: 50 kg in 5 daysGarbage by day (kg):Mon 3 Tue 2.5 Wed 2.5Thu 2 Fri 2.5Goal: garbage under 20%Source: Grade 7 Eco Team audit (sample data)
An infographic: a circle graph (organics 40%, recycling 35%, garbage 25%), a key statistic (75% did not need to be garbage), a small table of garbage by day, a goal and a source. The data are sample data for this lesson.
Worked example

Example 1: Planning the infographic

The Eco Team's data: organics 20 kg, recycling 17.5 kg, garbage 12.5 kg, for a total of 50 kg. Garbage by day: Mon 3 kg, Tue 2.5 kg, Wed 2.5 kg, Thu 2 kg, Fri 2.5 kg. Plan the infographic.

  1. Find the percentages: organics 20 ÷ 50 = 40%, recycling 17.5 ÷ 50 = 35%, garbage 12.5 ÷ 50 = 25%. Total 100%. ✓
  2. Story: most of the waste could be composted or recycled. Organics + recycling = 40% + 35% = 75%.
  3. Headline: "Where Does Our Lunch Waste Go?" Key statistic: "75% did NOT need to be garbage."
  4. Graph: organics, recycling and garbage are parts of one whole (all the waste), so a circle graph fits. Angles: 144°, 126°, 90°.
  5. Table: garbage by day, so readers can check the 12.5 kg (3 + 2.5 + 2.5 + 2 + 2.5 = 12.5 ✓).
  6. Call to action: "Goal: garbage under 20%." Source: "Grade 7 Eco Team audit, one week in February."

The plan matches the infographic above. Every part helps tell one clear story.

Worked example

Example 2: Using feedback

Ben's first draft about favourite winter sports has: a title "Sports", a circle graph labelled hockey 45%, skating 35%, skiing 30%, six cartoon pictures, two long paragraphs and no source. Give helpful feedback.

  1. Check the math: 45 + 35 + 30 = 110%. A circle graph must add to 100%. Either a percentage is wrong, or students chose more than one sport (then use a bar graph).
  2. Headline: "Sports" doesn't tell the message. Try "Hockey Wins the Winter!"
  3. Words: two long paragraphs are too much. Use one or two short sentences.
  4. Pictures: keep only pictures that help explain the data.
  5. Source: add who was surveyed, how many and when.

Feedback that is specific and kind helps: start with something that works ("Your colours make the sectors easy to tell apart"), then give one or two clear suggestions.

hockey 45%skating 35%skiing30%skiing runs past the start line:this overlap is the extra 10%45% + 35% + 30% = 110%162° + 126° + 108° = 396°but a circle has only 360°!Fix: check the numbers, or usea bar graph if students couldchoose more than one sport.
Ben's percentages add to 110%, so the sectors don't fit: the last one overlaps the first (shaded). A circle graph only works when the parts make exactly one whole, 100%.

Feedback sentence starters

  • "One thing that works well is..."
  • "I was confused by..."
  • "Could you show... instead?"
  • "Does this graph match the data? I added the percentages and got..."

When you get feedback, listen first, ask questions, and decide which ideas make your infographic clearer. It is normal to feel protective of your work; take a breath and look at it as a reader would.

Just for fun

An infographic that needs a three-page explanation is like a joke that needs explaining: something didn't quite work!

Hands-on activity

Household infographic

You need: paper (or a computer, with a grown-up's permission), a pencil, a ruler, a protractor, a round lid and a calculator.

  1. Choose a household data set you can collect in a few days. Ideas: what goes in your family's green bin, blue bin and garbage (count items as they are thrown away; don't dig through bins), how your family spends screen time, or the types of food in your fridge.
  2. Organize your data in a table with counts and percentages.
  3. Draw a circle graph (if the data is parts of one whole).
  4. Choose a headline and one key statistic.
  5. Add one or two sentences, a source and a call to action.
  6. Show it to a family member for 10 seconds, then ask, "What was the main message?" If they can't say it, improve your design.

Math talk: "Which part of my infographic tells the story best? What could I remove?"

Your turn

1

Name five things a good infographic includes.

2

In the Eco Team infographic, how many kilograms were organics?

3

What is the central angle of the recycling sector?

4

Why is a circle graph a good choice for the Eco Team's main data?

5

Write a better headline than "Waste Data" for the Eco Team's infographic.

6

The Eco Team's goal is garbage under 20%. If the total stays 50 kg, what is the most garbage they can have?

More practice: warm-up

1

What is an infographic?

2

Why should an infographic have a source?

3

What is a key statistic?

4

Should an infographic have long paragraphs? Why?

5

What is a call to action?

More practice: on your own

1

A draft infographic shows a circle graph with sectors 50%, 30% and 15%. What is wrong, and how could you fix it?

2

Survey of 80 students: 36 want a skating party, 28 a movie afternoon and 16 a games day. Make the table with percentages and angles.

3

For the data in the last question, write a headline and a key statistic.

4

Give one piece of kind and specific feedback on an infographic whose title is "Stuff" and whose graph has no labels.

5

An infographic about a class of 25 says "All students love pizza!" The table shows 19 students chose pizza. Is the headline fair? Fix it.

Challenge

1

The Eco Team does a second audit a month later. Total waste is 40 kg: organics 18 kg, recycling 15 kg, garbage 7 kg. Did they meet the goal of garbage under 20%? Write a headline comparing the two audits.

2

Why might the Eco Team show percentages rather than kilograms when comparing the two audits?

3

Plan an infographic for this data: 120 students were asked how they get to school in winter: bus 54, car 30, walk 24, other 12. Give the percentages, angles, a headline, a key statistic and one other feature.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

What is the main job of an infographic?

2.

Which headline best tells a message?

3.

A draft circle graph shows 40%, 40% and 30%. What should you do?

4.

Which is the best feedback?

5.

Why should an infographic include a source?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: The Ontario curriculum (D1.4) asks Grade 7 students to create an infographic about a data set, representing the data in appropriate ways, including tables and circle graphs, and adding other information that helps tell a story. Students also practise giving and using feedback (A1).

Common difficulties:

  • Too much text or decoration that doesn't help the message.
  • Headlines that are just topics ("Sports") instead of messages.
  • Circle graphs that don't add to 100%, or that show overlapping categories.
  • Overstating the data ("everyone", "nobody").

How to help: Be the 10-second test reader. Look at the infographic for 10 seconds, then say what you think the message is. Ask questions rather than fixing it yourself. Remind your child not to dig through garbage bins for data; counting items as they are thrown away works well. The Eco Team data in this lesson is sample data made up for practice.