Tally charts

A tally chart uses marks: one line for each thing you count.

The clever bit: every 5th mark goes across the other four, like a gate. That makes counting in fives super quick.

|  |  |  |  |     → ǁǁǁǁ   = 5

Pictograms

A pictogram uses pictures instead of numbers. Each picture stands for a certain amount.

Example: a pictogram of apples eaten this week.

Mon: 🍎🍎🍎
Tue: 🍎🍎

Easy, right? But watch out — sometimes one picture stands for more than one. That's the next slide.

Always check the KEY

This is the question that catches everyone out.

Pictogram of books read. Key: 📚 = 2 books.
Anna: 📚📚📚
How many books did Anna read?

Answer: 6 books (3 pictures × 2 books each = 6).

Always look at the key BEFORE counting. If it says "= 2", multiply. If it says "= 5", multiply by 5. If it says "= 1", just count.

Block diagrams

A block diagram uses equal-sized blocks, stacked up. The taller the column, the bigger the number.

It looks a bit like a city skyline — the highest building is the biggest amount.

When you grow up, block diagrams turn into bar charts. Same idea, just smarter scales.

Asking good data questions

Once you have a chart, you can answer all sorts of questions:

• "Which was the most popular?" — find the biggest one
• "Which was the fewest?" — find the smallest one
• "How many more X than Y?" — subtract
• "How many altogether?" — add them all up

That's the whole Year 2 statistics topic. Now go and try the worksheet!