How to Make Your Own Data Table for Kids

Data tables organize information so that it's easy to read.

Data tables may seem like a strange item on your homework, but you use them more often than you realize. Your school report card, TV show schedules and sports scoreboards are all examples of data tables. These organize different kinds of information so that it's easier to see the relationship between them. By making your own data table, you can better understand how they work.

Instructions

1. Write a title at the top of your paper that describes what you will record. For example, if you want to record how many jumping jacks you and your friends do each day of the week, you might write "How Many Jumping Jacks We Did This Week."

2. Decide what information your chart will show. In this example, you would be showing three pieces of information: who is doing jumping jacks, how many each person does and the days on which people are doing jumping jacks.

3. Determine which information is independent (unchangeable) data, which is dependent (changeable) data and which is a category of dependent data. In this example, the names of the people doing the jumping jacks is independent data. The number of jumping jacks each person does is dependent data, and since you will record this number every day, the days of the week are categories of dependent data.

4. Write a label for your dependent data beneath the title of your table, centered over the area where you will record your data. In this example, you would write "Number of Jumping Jacks."

5. Write a label for your independent data at the far left of the paper, beneath the dependent data label. In this example, you might write "Names of Jumpers."

6. Write the name of each category of dependent data in a row to the right of the independent data label. In this example, you would write the name of each day of the week.

7. List the independent data in a column beneath the independent data label. In this example, you would write the name of each person doing jumping jacks.

8. Record your data. In this example, you would write the number of jumping jacks each person does next to his or her name each day.

Tips & Warnings

• You can add a label called "Total" as the last category of dependent data. Use this column to record the sums of quantitative data from each category of independent data. In this example, it would be the total number of jumping jacks each person did this week.

References

• BNET: To Make a Data Table