Notes

Note on materials: In this lesson, you need to create graphs on a coordinate plane. At any time you can select the Tools button to find a printable page of grid paper that you can use to create any size graph. It is also a good idea to have a ruler or straightedge handy for making accurate graphs.

Every day for six days, Anthony measures the total amount of water that escapes from a leaky faucet. Here is his data table.

Number of Days Amount of Water
(Liters)
0 0
1 0.5
2 1.0
3 1.5
4 2.0
5 2.5
6 3.0
He finds the leaky faucet wastes 0.5 liter of water each day. Based on this information, Anthony writes an equation to show his results. He lets x equal the number of days and y equal the amount of water wasted, in liters, and arrives at the equation y = 0.5x.

Now he wants to make his science project look better by turning this information into a graph. The first thing Anthony needs is a title. A title tells a person looking at the graph a little bit about the variables being studied. It’s like a short introduction about the relationship being studied.

Let's explore each section to see all of the information Anthony needs on his graph so that people can understand it clearly.
The first thing Anthony needs is a title. A title tells a person looking at the graph a little bit about the variables being studied. It’s like a short introduction about the relationship being studied.

An appropriate title for this graph is “Wasted Water.”Next, Anthony needs to label the x-axis and the y-axis to identify his variables.

When graphs are created, the independent variable goes on the x-axis; so, he labels the x-axis “Number of Days.” The y-axis shows the dependent variable; so, he labels the y-axis “Amount of Water (liters).”

The units of measurements are also shown to let people know the measurements that took place.

Always remember to choose appropriate increments for the axes based on the values you graph.