Pictographs

What is a Pictograph?

A Pictograph represents data through pictures of objects. It helps answer questions about data with just a quick glance. Instead of looking at numbers, you look at symbols.

Key Components

1. Symbol: A picture that represents the item (e.g., a smiley face for a student, a bulb for electricity).
2. Scale/Key: This is crucial. It tells you what one symbol represents.
   • Example: $1 \text{ Smiley} = 1 \text{ Student}$
   • Example: $1 \text{ Smiley} = 10 \text{ Students}$

If the scale is large (e.g., 1 symbol = 10 items), we might use partial pictures to represent smaller numbers.

• Half a symbol $\approx 5$ items.

Example: Library Books

Let’s look at an example where 1 Book Symbol represents 1 Book borrowed.

Interpretation:

• Monday: 5 symbols $\times$ 1 = 5 books.
• Tuesday: 3 symbols $\times$ 1 = 3 books.
• Wednesday: 2 symbols $\times$ 1 = 2 books.

Challenges with Pictographs

While pictographs are visually appealing, they can be difficult to draw if the data is large or not a perfect multiple of the scale (e.g., representing 27 students when 1 symbol = 10 students). This is where Bar Graphs become more useful.