Minds On

Recreating stories

Recreate the following story using a variety of representations that help to tell the story, including:

  • pictures
  • symbols
  • numbers
  • few words

This year, our student council decided to hold a book drive to support our community centre’s new library. Collection is every Tuesday. We asked for paperback books, hardcover books and magazines. We had a huge response! We collected 1,045 paperbacks, 856 hardcover books and 474 magazines. We recorded the total donations in each division: Primary, Junior and Intermediate. The junior students collected the most books. We calculated the mass of the donations by donors and tracked the frequency. We also tracked how the mass of donations changed over time. Thank your school community for the gift of reading!

Press ‘Infographic’ to reveal an infographic based on the story.

How does it compare to your ideas? Are there different elements than the ones you thought of? Throughout this learning activity, you can record your thoughts digitally, orally, or in print.

Action

Features of an infographic

What is an infographic? Infographics are used to:

  • display data and information about a given topic
  • display data in an appealing, clear, and concise way
  • take a large set of data that may be overwhelming or difficult to interpret and display it in a way that is easier to understand
  • tell a story about the data being displayed and usually has an intended audience in mind

The following image is an example of an infographic template. It does not include any information; however, it does display the components that are often included in an infographic. We will examine a real infographic later on.

Blank infographic. Space for title in the middle. The other sections are split into four equal parts with various graphs and images.

Components of an infographic

Let’s re-examine the infographic from the Minds On. Review the components that are present.

An infographic has:

  • words
  • images
  • graphs
  • numbers/data
  • large font

Record your ideas to the following questions in a method of your choice:

  • Why would a graph be included in an infographic?
  • What kind of graphs could be included?
  • Why do you think there should not be too many words on an infographic?
  • When would infographics be useful to use or have?

Example of an infographic: Space

Let’s examine the following infographic.

An infographic titled "SPACE" next to an illustration of an astronaut and a rocket with a starfield and constellations in the background. It includes a line graph representing the number of astronauts that have gone to space since 2010, a bar graph representing the distance of each planet from the sun with images of each planet above their respective bars, an illustration of the 8 phases of the moon, and a text box titled "Did you know?" that states "As of August 2006, it was announced that Pluto is no longer considered to be a planet."

Answer the following questions about this infographic. You can record your responses or discuss your ideas with a partner, if possible.

  1. What story is this infographic telling us?
  2. What data is present for us to interpret? If there is a graph, what is the graph about?
  3. What components of an infographic are present in this example?
  4. Does this infographic display data in a clear and concise way? Is it easy to understand and interpret?
  5. Who is the intended audience of this infographic?

Analysing an infographic

Use the following five steps to analyze the space infographic. Record your thinking using a method of your choice.

The first step is to think about the topic and how to gather data on it. What is the topic? Could you conduct a survey? How would you gather data?

The space infographic: What is the topic and do you have any ideas on how the data could have been gathered?

Who is the intended audience? Once you identify your audience, you need to consider who this audience is and what they would find appealing and easy to understand. You need to think about how you would consider making the story specifically appeal to them.

The space infographic: Who might the audience be for the space infographic? What specifically makes you think that? Consider the elements and features of the space infographic and connect them to a possible audience.

Consolidate your data and research. What are the most important parts to include? Remember that an infographic needs to be clear and concise and will only have few words on it. This means everything included should be intentional and have a specific purpose to it.

The space infographic: What do you think are the most important parts of the space infographic? Is what is included clear and concise? Are there a lot of words on the page? Notice what works and what doesn’t work?

Once we have our data and have identified our audience, we will need to think about how we will display it on the infographic. What graphs will we use? What words, images, and numbers would be valuable to include? Will this be appealing and easy to interpret for our audience?

The space infographic: What kind of graphs, tables or charts are used on the space infographic?

Create the graphs, tables, and charts and choose images to use.

The space infographic: Examine the layout of the graphics and the placement. Pay attention to the types of graphics and how they are arranged.

Consolidation

Design an infographic

Use what you have learned about infographics to plan an infographic of your own.

  • Identify the topic.
  • Who is your audience?
  • What message do you want to get across?
  • What data visualization techniques will you use?
  • What other information will help you share the message?

Use your notes from analysing the infographic about space to help you make a plan.

Design a layout for your infographic in your notebook, using an app/software or record a description of the layout. Be sure to include the components (graphs, tables, text, etc.), text features (bolded words, different sized fonts, etc.) as well as details about placement of things.

Complete the Infographic Plan Check in your notebook or using the following fillable and printable document to ensure you have included everything you need!

Complete? Infographic Plan checklist

I have a clear topic. If I covered up the title on my infographic, people would still be able to figure out my topic.

My infographic is designed for my intended audience. I think they would like it.

I have collected and used enough data. There is not too much and not too little.

I have not used too many words in my infographic. Everything has a purpose.

I have included graphs, tables or charts that suit my intended audience and support my topic.

I have only included information (words, images and numbers) that is necessary.

My graphs, tables and charts are accurate and easy to read.

I have organized everything in a way that helps to tell a story.

Press the ‘Activity’ button to access Infographic Plan Checklist. 

Activity(Open PDF in a new window)

Displaying data

Answer the following questions:

  • Why is an infographic an appealing way to display a topic and data?
  • Was it difficult to decide which information was the most important to include? How did you make that decision?
  • What kind of skills do you need to create a successful infographic?

Reflection

As you read through these descriptions, which sentence best describes how you are feeling about your understanding of this learning activity? Press the button that is beside this sentence.

I feel…

Now, record your ideas using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.

Press ‘Discover More’ to extend your skills.

Create your infographic

Create your infographic! Using a digital platform, or a method of your choice, create the infographic including all chosen information, images, graphs, words, etc.

Connect with a TVO Mathify tutor

Think of TVO Mathify as your own personalized math coach, here to support your learning at home. Press ‘TVO Mathify’ to connect with an Ontario Certified Teacher math tutor of your choice. You will need a TVO Mathify login to access this resource.

TVO Mathify (Opens in new window)