Histograms

All you’ll ever need to know about

histograms…
 Success Criteria
Grade Learning Outcome R A G
I can spot the differences between a bar chart
C2 and a histogram.
I know the difference between continuous and
C1 discrete data.
I can calculate frequency density from a grouped
B3 frequency table.
I can draw a histogram correctly, using the
B2
frequency density.
I can read a histogram, finding the actual
B1 number of people in a group using the frequency
density.
I can draw conclusions from a histogram by
A3 performing calculations using information read
from that histogram.
 Spot The Difference
Bar Chart Histogram

Write down any differences you notice between the two graphs,
including the bars, the axes and note down anything you aren’t
sure about.
 The Differences
Bar Chart Histogram
Category Property Category Property
Bars Bars

X-Axis X-Axis

Y-Axis Y-Axis
 The Differences
Bar Chart Histogram
Category Property Category Property
Bars There are gaps between Bars There are no gaps
the bars. between the bars and
X-Axis Words or categories. they are different widths.
(Discrete) X-Axis Numbers. (Continuous)
Y-Axis Number of people or Y-Axis Frequency density –
frequency. what’s that?
 Discrete and Continuous Data – What’s
The Difference?
Discrete Data Continuous Data
Discrete data can not be split Continuous data can be split
up into “bits” – you either up – you can have 1.2 metres,
watched Eastenders or you 9.87 seconds or be 10.5 years
didn’t. old.

Can you think of any examples of discrete data and

continuous data?
 Success Criteria
Grade Learning Outcome R A G
I can spot the differences between a bar chart
C2 and a histogram.
I know the difference between continuous and
C1 discrete data.
I can calculate frequency density from a grouped
B3 frequency table.
I can draw a histogram correctly, using the
B2
frequency density.
I can read a histogram, finding the actual
B1 number of people in a group using the frequency
density.
I can draw conclusions from a histogram by
A3 performing calculations using information read
from that histogram.
Firstly, what does the group
0 ≤ h < 2 mean?
It means:
The group goes from 0 up to 2 hours,
including 0 but not including 2.

The group contains any value from 0

up to 1.99999999… hours.
Example Of How To Draw A Histogram:
A survey has been conducted on how many hours of TV some
children watched last week. Draw a histogram for this data.
Hours (h) spent watching TV
last week Frequency
0≤h<2 3
2≤h<5 6
5 ≤ h < 10 10
10 ≤ h < 20 25
20 ≤ h < 40 10

Why can’t we just plot the frequency?

 How To Draw A Histogram:
A survey has been conducted on how many hours of TV some
children watched last week. Draw a histogram for this data.
Hours (h) spent
watching TV last Frequency Frequency Density
(Frequency ÷ Group Width)
week
0≤h<2 3 3 ÷ 2 = 1.5
2≤h<5 6 6÷3=2
5 ≤ h < 10 10 10 ÷ 5 = 2
10 ≤ h < 20 25 25 ÷ 10 = 2.5
20 ≤ h < 40 10 10 ÷ 20 = 0.5

Since the groups are all different widths we need to calculate the
frequency density by dividing the frequency by the group width.
Drawing the histogram:

Things to notice:
• The widths of the bars
are the group widths.
• We plot the frequency
density not the
frequency.
Drawing the histogram:

How could we calculate

the frequency from the
graph?
Frequency = Freq. Density x Group Width

Therefore the area of each

bar is the frequency.
 Histogram question:
A survey of the heights of 100 Year 11 students was conducted
with the results in the table below. Draw a histogram of this data.

Height (x cm) Frequency

100 < x ≤ 120 20
120 < x ≤ 140 25
140 < x ≤ 150 25
150 < x ≤ 160 20
160 < x ≤ 200 10
 Answer – first stage:
Height (cm) Frequency Frequency Density
100 < x ≤ 120 20 20 ÷ 20 = 1
120 < x ≤ 140 25 25 ÷ 20 = 1.25
140 < x ≤ 150 25 25 ÷ 10 = 2.5
150 < x ≤ 160 20 20 ÷ 10 = 2
160 < x ≤ 200 10 10 ÷ 40 = 0.25
 Answer – second stage:

Frequency
Height (cm) Frequency
Density
100 < x ≤ 120 20 1
120 < x ≤ 140 25 1.25
140 < x ≤ 150 25 2.5
150 < x ≤ 160 20 2
160 < x ≤ 200 10 0.25
 Success Criteria
Grade Learning Outcome R A G
I can spot the differences between a bar chart
C2 and a histogram.
I know the difference between continuous and
C1 discrete data.
I can calculate frequency density from a grouped
B3 frequency table.
I can draw a histogram correctly, using the
B2
frequency density.
I can read a histogram, finding the actual
B1 number of people in a group using the frequency
density.
I can draw conclusions from a histogram by
A3 performing calculations using information read
from that histogram.
 Reading Histograms
Remember that frequency density is shown on the
histogram.

Frequency density = Frequency ÷ Group Width

We discovered earlier that the area of each bar is the

frequency.
 Reading A Histogram
This is a histogram of how many hours of TV some adults
watched last week. How many adults were asked in total?
Draw yourself a table
Hours (h) of Frequency Frequency
TV watched Density
Draw yourself a table
Hours (h) of Frequency Frequency
TV watched Density

0≤h<5 1 5

5≤h<10 2 10

10≤h<14 2 8

14≤h<20 1 6

20≤h<40 0.25 5

Answer: 34
 Success Criteria
Grade Learning Outcome R A G
I can spot the differences between a bar chart
C2 and a histogram.
I know the difference between continuous and
C1 discrete data.
I can calculate frequency density from a grouped
B3 frequency table.
I can draw a histogram correctly, using the
B2
frequency density.
I can read a histogram, finding the actual
B1 number of people in a group using the frequency
density.
I can draw conclusions from a histogram by
A3 performing calculations using information read
from that histogram.
Drawing Conclusions From Histograms
What percentage of people in the survey below
watched 20 hours or more of TV?
 What do we do first?
Calculate how many people are in each group:
Now find the percentage:
 Success Criteria
Grade Learning Outcome R A G
I can spot the differences between a bar chart
C2 and a histogram.
I know the difference between continuous and
C1 discrete data.
I can calculate frequency density from a grouped
B3 frequency table.
I can draw a histogram correctly, using the
B2
frequency density.
I can read a histogram, finding the actual
B1 number of people in a group using the frequency
density.
I can draw conclusions from a histogram by
A3 performing calculations using information read
from that histogram.