SCIENTIFIC METHOD / GRAPH SKETCHNOTES
A picture of
your thinking.
Use your classroom sheet. Open a numbered step, try a change, then add a note and color as you review.
Paper & filled-in references
The illustrated guides use practice data. The blank sheets leave room for your explanations and drawings. Print at fit-to-page; use the separate graph paper when you need precise grids or a 50-dot circle.
Bar graph
Compare categories.
Blank sketchnote · Filled-in reference
- Organize. List each category and its value in your table.
- Label. Put categories on the horizontal (X) axis and values on the vertical (Y) axis. Copy the units from your table and add a clear title.
- Scale. Start the bars at zero. Choose equal number steps that fit your largest value.
- Draw and check. Draw bars with equal widths and equal gaps. Check each height against your table.
Line graph
Show change over time.
Blank sketchnote · Filled-in reference
- Organize. Keep each time with its measurement. Put the rows in time order.
- Label. Put time on the horizontal (X) axis and the measurement on the vertical (Y) axis. Include units and a title.
- Scale and plot. Use equal number steps on each axis. Each axis can have a different scale. Plot every pair by moving across to the time, then up to its measurement.
- Join and check. Use a ruler to join neighboring points in time order. Check every point against the table. Only include (0, 0) if your data include it.
Scatter plot
Look for a relationship between two measurements.
Blank sketchnote · Filled-in reference
- Keep the pairs. One row is one pair of measurements. Keep the two values from each row together.
- Label. For these problems, put the first measurement on the horizontal (X) axis and the second on the vertical (Y) axis. Include units and a title.
- Scale and plot. Use an even scale on each axis that fits the data. Go across to X, then up to Y. Draw one dot for each pair.
- Check the pattern. Do not connect the dots. Check every pair, then describe whether the points tend upward, downward, or show no clear pattern. A pattern alone does not prove a cause.
Pie graph
Show parts of one whole.
Blank sketchnote · Filled-in reference
- Find the whole. Add the category counts to find the total.
- Find each share. For each category: percent = count ÷ total × 100. All the percentages should add to 100%.
- Count spaces. On your 50-dot circle, there are 50 spaces between neighboring dots. Each space is 2%. Spaces = percent ÷ 2. For example, 20% uses 10 spaces.
- Draw and check. Draw a starting line from the center to a dot. Count that category’s spaces clockwise, then draw a line from the center to the new boundary. Start the next category at that boundary and continue around. Count gaps, not dots. Add a title, category labels and percentages; check for 100% and 50 spaces in total.
Blank graph grids (PDF) · 50-dot pie paper (PDF)
The pie sheet’s plain circle is for sketching. On the precise 50-dot paper, count the spaces: each is 2%. A 100-part circle uses 1% per part.