1. Good Graph! UNI Plant Physiology Spring 2005

2. Why make graphs? To summarize your data To contrast treatments To show what happens over time (conc., distance, etc.) To tell a story rather than give numbers Because you have to

3. Two main kinds Scatter plot (dots) Bar graph

4. Scatter graph: Start with the box

5. Independent axis: What?

6. X axis units

7. X axis tick labels

8. Dependent axis: What?

9. Y axis units

10. Y axis tick labels

11. Title: What’s it about?

12. Add the data at last

13. Connect the dots

14. Good Scatter Plot

15. Scatter or bar graph? Continuous variable (x) –Examples: temperature, size, weight –Scatter –Connect the lines Discontinuous variable (x) –Examples: pet type, number of feet, car model –Bar graph

16. Bar graph box

17. Bar graph independent axis

18. Bar graph dependent axis

19. Bar graph title

20. Bar graph data

21. The final product

22. FAQs Does it matter if I do a good job? –You make your story clear –You get extra points –You understand other’s graphs –You get your manuscript accepted How can I remember all of this? –You can’t (yet) –It’s all in the lab manual –With a checklist

23. The easy way Use a computer program Tell it exactly what you want –Graph type –Title –Axis labels (with units), ranges –Data and line types –Lots more possibilities