Drawing tally charts activity

A tally chart is a grid used to help clearly show information as it is collected.

Tips on how to draw a tally chart

• A good tally chart shows the information clearly
• A good tally chart has columns and headings
• A good tally chart has lines to show numbers and a total number to show the frequency
• A good tally chart is followed by a graph or a short sentence describing what the tally chart shows.

Activity

1. Survey the students in your class to find out their favourite takeaway food or favourite colour.
2. Each student in your class is shown with 1 line in the tally column.
3. The number four looks like this 1111 and five looks like this 1111.
4. Add up the lines on the tally chart and write the number in the frequency column.
   
   

Your tally chart may look something like this.

Write a short sentence describing what your tally chart shows, or use the tally chart to draw a graph.

Related links

New Zealand Graphics Guidelines - 2. The process of graphing
Statistics New Zealand Graphics Guidelines - 4. Graphic Standards