Line Graphs Worksheet

Line graphs at a glance

A line graph (or line plot) is used to display related data that changes continuously over a given time period. The x and y values are plotted on the graph and the points are plotted and then joined with straight lines. When introducing line graphs, a good starting point is a line graph to show temperature change over a week in the local area – here, the days of the week would be marked off on the x axis, with temperatures on the y axis.

Students should be able to draw line graphs and also interpret their graphs, describing the change over time or comparing two data sets. A double line graph has two sets of related data plotted – for example, the changes in temperature over a week in summer and in winter. This makes it easier to compare and analyse the data sets. The gradient of a straight line segment joining two points on a line graph tells us about the rate of change in that time period – a steeper gradient represents a larger change.

Unlike pie graphs and pictographs, line graphs are not suitable for displaying discrete data, as joining the points implies that the data is continuous.

Looking forward, students can then progress to additional Statistics worksheets, for example a mean, median, mode and range printable worksheet or frequency table worksheet.

For more teaching and learning support on Statistics our GCSE maths lessons provide step by step support for all GCSE maths concepts.