Page |1

Lesson 8: Statistics and Probability for Primary Learners

Introduction:
Probability and statistics are related areas of mathematics which concern themselves with
analyzing the relative frequency of events. Still, there are fundamental differences in the way they see the
world:
 Probability deals with predicting the likelihood of future events, while statistics involves the
analysis of the frequency of past events.
 Probability is primarily a theoretical branch of mathematics, which studies the consequences of
mathematical definitions. Statistics is primarily an applied branch of mathematics, which tries to
make sense of observations in the real world.
Both subjects are important, relevant, and useful. But they are different, and understanding the
distinction is crucial in properly interpreting the relevance of mathematical evidence. Many a gambler has
gone to a cold and lonely grave for failing to make the proper distinction between probability and
statistics.

Lesson 8A: Pictographs

Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:
1. Describe a pictograph;
2. Read and interpret data found in a pictograph.

Introduction:
Do you know that the invention of writing started with pictures? That’s right. During the first few
centuries, humankind used pictures to convey information. Pictographs are based on the same principle
that humans have been using for centuries! Come let us learn more about them.

Abstraction:
A pictograph is the representation of data using images. Pictographs represent the frequency of
data while using symbols or images that are relevant to the data. This is one of the simplest ways to
represent statistical data. And reading a pictograph is made extremely easy as well. The best way to
explain a pictograph is through an example.

How to make a Pictograph

Let us take an example. We must represent how many TV sets have been sold in the last few
years via a pictograph. So we get started
 Page |2

Collect Data: First step is obviously collecting the data of the category you want to
represent. Collect your data by appropriate means. And then make a list or table of the data. And
one time finally review the data.

Pick your symbol: Pick a symbol or picture that accurately represents your data. If you
are drawing a pictograph to represent TV sets sold then a symbol of a basketball would be highly
confusing! So pick your symbol carefully.

Assign a Key: Sometimes the frequency of the data is too high. Then one symbol cannot
represent one frequency. You must set a numerical value that one symbol will represent. This
numerical value must be written along with the pictograph. Example one symbol of a TV
represents 500 TV sets. This is the key of the pictograph.

Draw the pictograph: Final step is drawing your pictograph. Draw the two columns that
represent the category and the data. Then draw the actual symbols that represent the
frequencies. Remember that the symbols can be drawn as fractions as well if the frequency is not
a whole number.

Review your Data: And finally, review your pictograph and make sure it correctly
represents the information that you wanted to relay. Don’t forget to check the labelling of
your graph.

After you are done drawing the above pictograph it should look something similar to the following picture.

Advantages of a Pictograph

 Express a large amount of information or data in a simple form

 Since they make the use of symbols, pictographs attract attention i,e, it is an attractive way to
represent data.
 Pictographs are easy to read since all the information is available at one glance
 And since pictographs are universally used, they do not require a lot of explanation
 Page |3

Activity 33: Let us do it! Answer the questions asked for. Do it on a whole sheet of paper.

Question 1: The pictograph shows the number of eggs sold by a trader in three days. If the trader still had
115 eggs left after the three days, calculate the number of eggs he had at first. (Show your solution)

Question 2: The line plot below shows how students scored on last week’s math test. How many students
scored 95 or higher on the test? Show your solution.

Question 3: What are Pictographs?

Question 4: What is a pictograph key?

Question 5: What is the use of pictograph?

Assessment Task/s

5 minute non-stop writing

From the lesson, I realized that……

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Page |4