TEAS Ready📏 Math · Measurement and Data · Lesson 1 of 7 · 4 min
Reading tables and graphs
📊 Many TEAS math items hand you a table or graph. The math is usually easy; the trap is misreading the picture.
💡 Key idea
Read the title, labels and units first, then pull exact values and do only the math the question asks.
🧠 The idea
Before you calculate anything, read the TITLE, the column or axis LABELS and the UNITS. A TABLE lists exact values in rows and columns. A BAR GRAPH compares amounts across categories; the height of each bar is the value. A LINE GRAPH shows change over time; a steeper segment means a faster change. A PIE CHART shows parts of a whole, so the slices add to 100%; to turn a slice into a count, multiply its percent by the total. Watch the scale: if a bar graph's axis counts by 5s or starts above zero, small differences can look huge. Most questions ask you to find one value, compare two values (subtract), find a total (add), or find a percent or fraction of the whole. Write the numbers you pull from the graph on your scratch paper before you combine them.
✏️ Worked example
A bar graph titled "Clinic visits by day" shows Monday 42, Tuesday 35, Wednesday 28, Thursday 35 and Friday 60. Question: what percent of the week's visits happened on Friday?
Step 1: Read the values from the bars: 42, 35, 28, 35, 60.
Step 2: Find the total: 42 + 35 + 28 + 35 + 60 = 200 visits.
Step 3: Write Friday as a fraction of the total: 60/200.
Step 4: Convert to a percent: 60 ÷ 200 = 0.30 = 30%.
Answer: 30% of the week's visits were on Friday.
📌 Takeaways
- Title, labels and units come before any arithmetic.
- Bar = compare categories, line = change over time, pie = parts of a whole.
- Pie slice count = slice percent × total.
✅ Check yourself
Question 1 of 3
A bar graph shows flu shots given at a pharmacy: Monday 24, Tuesday 30, Wednesday 18. How many more shots were given on Tuesday than on Wednesday?
- 30
- 48
- 6
- 12
Show the answer and rationale
Answer: D
Subtract the two bar values: 30 − 18 = 12. Six is the difference between Monday and Tuesday, 48 is the sum of Tuesday and Wednesday, and 30 is just Tuesday's value.
Question 2 of 3
A pie chart shows how 250 students get to school. The "walk" slice is labeled 40%. How many students walk?
- 10,000
- 40
- 100
- 150
Show the answer and rationale
Answer: C
Multiply the percent by the total: 0.40 × 250 = 100 students. Forty is the percent, not a count; 150 is the number who do not walk; 10,000 multiplies 40 × 250 without first changing 40% to the decimal 0.40.
Question 3 of 3
Which type of graph is best for showing how a patient's temperature changed every hour over one day?
- Bar graph of categories
- Pie chart
- Table of averages
- Line graph
Show the answer and rationale
Answer: D
A line graph connects values in time order, so it shows rises and falls hour by hour. A pie chart shows parts of a whole, a category bar graph compares separate groups, and a table of averages hides the hourly changes.
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