1. PATHWAYS 2 - WRITING UNIT 4
Explaining a Chart or Graph
National Geographic, Heinle CENGAGE Learning
Elizabeth Celeste Coiman-Lopez, BAT, MS.
Houston Community College, School of Continuing Education

2. Unit 4 - p. 76 WRITING SKILL - EXPLAINING A CHART OR GRAPH
RULES:
CHART:
shows changes over time.
It is a graphical representation of data, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart".[1]
Unit p WRITING SKILL - EXPLAINING A CHART OR GRAPH

3. Unit 4 - p. 76 WRITING SKILL - EXPLAINING A CHART OR GRAPH
RULES:
GRAPH:
shows numbers or amounts from a single period.
A diagram representing system of connections of interrelations among two or more things by a number of distinctive dots, lines, bars, etc.
Unit p WRITING SKILL - EXPLAINING A CHART OR GRAPH

4. PHRASES to introduce a description of a chart of graph:
RULES:
PHRASES to introduce a description of a chart of graph:
According to the graph…
As the chart shows…
We can see from the chart…
VERBS: (in simple past):
rose to… rose by.. increased to… increased by…
doubled… tripled… quadrupled…
reached a high point of…. reached a low point of….
declined… decreased… dipped… dropped…. fell…
remained stable…. remained steady…
stayed about the same….. stayed the same…
Unit 4 - p. 75 LANGUAGE FOR WRITING: EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH DESCRIBING CHARTS AND GRAPHS

6. Unit 4 - p. 76 WRITING SKILL - VERBS FOR EXPLAINING A CHART OR GRAPH
VERBS TO DESCRIBE
Fell
Dropped
Declined
Decreased
Went down
Plunged
Rose
Jumped
Grew
Climbed
Went up
Increased
How to describe
Stay constant
Remain steady
Maintain stable
Unit p WRITING SKILL - VERBS FOR EXPLAINING A CHART OR GRAPH

7. Unit 4 - p. 76 WRITING SKILL - VERBS FOR EXPLAINING A CHART OR GRAPH
ADVERBS TO DESCRIBE HOW
Sharply
Quickly
Rapidly
Steeply
Considerably
Significantly
Substantially
Steadily
Gradually
Moderately
Slightly
Slowly
Unit p WRITING SKILL - VERBS FOR EXPLAINING A CHART OR GRAPH

8. RULES: PREPOSITIONS: Example:
TO + verb: to talk about a number or amount that something reached.
BY + verb: to talk about how much something changed.
OVER: talk about a period of time
BETWEEN: a period from one year to another
BY: at a certain time
IN: during a number of years
Example:
As the graphs shows, sales rose to $50 million by 2010.
According to the graph, seafood sales fell by 20 percent over two years.
As the chart shows, sales of orange roughy doubled in five years.
Unit 4 - p. 75 LANGUAGE FOR WRITING: EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH DESCRIBING CHARTS AND GRAPHS

9. Unit 4 - p. 76 WRITING SKILL - EXPLAINING A CHART OR GRAPH
RULES:
Begin by explaining the main idea or purpose of the chart or graph.
According to the chart, eating top predators has a great impact on the ocean ecosystem.
As the graph shows, the quantity of fish caught has steadily increased since 1950.
Then provide supporting details: specific data that support the main idea.
Eating a pound of a top predator, such as orange roughy, is like eating 10 pounds of a smaller fish, such as herring.
The amount of fish caught between 1950 and 2006 increased from about 17 million metric tons to more than 80 million in 2006.
Unit p WRITING SKILL - EXPLAINING A CHART OR GRAPH

10. Main Idea
What kind of diagram is it?
What does the chart/graph show?
Over what period of time?
How is the data shown?
DETAIL #1
What is one detail that supports the main idea of the graph?
Where did the most significant change occur?
DETAIL #2
What is another detail that supports the main idea of the graph?
Which 2 areas showed the greatest decreases or increases and by how much?
DETAIL #3
What areas stayed the same?
CONCLUSION
What is the most recent data in the graph?
What does this show?
Unit 4 - p. 75 LANGUAGE FOR WRITING: EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH DESCRIBING CHARTS AND GRAPHS

11. Explain a Chart or a Graph
TOPIC:
Explain a Chart or a Graph
Study the graph on page 68
Complete the chart on page 77.
Write a paragraph in your notebook explaining this graph.
P WRITING ASSIGNMENT

12. Unit 4 PEER EDITING CHECKLIST
Writer: ______________________
Peer Editor: ___________________
Writing Title: _______________________________________
Title is the main idea.
No contractions
3 Details supporting the Main Idea
Most recent data at the end
Use past tense to describe changes in the past
Use correct prepositions, verbs, and language for describing a graph.
Unit PEER EDITING CHECKLIST