Stacked-bar graphs
Construct and read stacked-bar graphs (vertical or horizontal) in which each bar is divided into segments for the categories of a data set, building each bar by placing every segment on top of the previous one and using a key, title, labels, source and an appropriate scale; read a segment's size as the difference between its top and bottom edges (not the value at its top) and read each bar's total; and compare the make-up of different groups, using bars that show each part as a share of its group's total (a relative-frequency or 100% scale) when the groups are different sizes
Lesson
Set out your lesson
“Stacked-bar graphs means practising the idea at the table with counters or paper models and one clear check. We will demo once, then your child tries.”
Bring to the table
- 24 counters
- Paper and pencil
Extra for the adult
Worked example. 12 counters into 3 equal groups makes 4 in each. Write 12 ÷ 3 = 4.
Optional challenge. For Stacked-bar graphs, add one harder example after success.
What to notice. Keep one parent note: examples tried; results; support used. This session samples Stacked-bar graphs, not mastery.
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Teaching approaches
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1 approach
Stacked-bar graphs means practising the idea at the table with counters or paper models and one clear check. We will demo once, then your child tries.
Materials: 24 counters; Paper and pencil. Adult shares 12 counters into 3 equal groups and writes the quotient. Child shares three totals into equal groups and records each quotient. Done: three correct equal shares with matching writing. Stop after the fresh check; keep optional challenge for another day.
Family records and proof options
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Practice this concept
Start practiceStacked-bar graphs practice
Practice key ideas from Stacked-bar graphs.
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Learning resources
Extra practice links — they do not replace Gakuva’s teaching approach.
Illustrative Mathematics · Practice link — not the full lesson
Puppy Weights
Before you open · source notes
Puppy Weights supports reading and comparing values in a data display related to stacked categories. Not every pie-chart construction.
Free, no sign-in. A teacher solution is on the same page, so use the student view with your child.
Before you openAsk the learner what one bar or stack shows and compare two values.
Opening this link does not save learning or assess mastery.
Source, access and review notes
Public Illustrative Mathematics task page. The .html address responds HTTP 308 to this URL. An anonymous GET of this URL on 2026-11-12 returned HTTP 200 with no login or payment prompt. Where a teacher solution is present, it is on the same page as the student task; this check did not find a separate locked student view. An adult can use the student view section and should not read a solution aloud. Advertising was not observed in the fetched HTML text; that is not a browser, device, or ad-free guarantee. This is a paper or discussion task, not an automatically marked interactive game. Opening the link does not save practice or assess mastery. Diagrams on the page use missing or filename-only alt text, so they are not an accessible image equivalent. Accessibility still depends on an adult describing the picture.
Illustrative Mathematics. “Puppy Weights.” Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. External task; Gakuva does not copy, host, embed, or redistribute it.
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — link only
Check understanding
- Build a stacked-bar graph from given counts (e.g. how students in three classes travel to school: walk, bus, car), stacking the segments in the same order in every bar, with a key, title, labels, source and a suitable scale
- Read a stacked bar to find one segment's value by subtracting the value at its bottom edge from the value at its top edge, and read the total for the whole bar
- Explain why a stacked bar that shows each segment as a share of its group's total is better for comparing two groups of different sizes than counts alone, and use such bars to compare the groups' make-up
“If your child sees a bar graph where each bar is split into coloured pieces — say, how many children in each class walk, bus or drive to school — can they work out how many are in one coloured piece, how many are in the whole bar, and compare the classes?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Representational
- Subject
- Mathematics
- Domain
- Data & Statistics
- Age range
- Ages 10–13
Standards