TIPS for using the “Create A Graph” website
1. Go to: http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createAgraph or simply Google, “create a graph” and it
will be one of the first few results. There’s a link on my webpage too.
2. Click on the type of graph (most of us will be using the bar graph).
3. Notice all the tabs on the right. The top tab is “Design”. Make any changes to the graph’s
appearance. If you’re starting, then skip this step and go to the next tab, “Data”. (See
reverse for a screen shot of the Data tab all filled in.)
4. Fill in your graph title.
5. The X-axis should be your Manipulated (Independent) Variable. For our bouncing ball
experiment, it will be the “Types of Surfaces”
6. The Y-axis should be your Responding (Dependent) Variable. In our experiment, it was
“Bounce Height (in cm)”
7. For the box called, “Source”, type your name. This will help me if you email me your graph
to print up. WARNING: Trim your name off your graph before gluing it on your board.
8. There are 2 things to set in the “Data Set”. First is the number of “Items”. This refers to the
different types of your manipulated variable. Our experiment had 4 surfaces, so we need to
change items to 4. Second, you have to decide how many “Groups”. This refers to how
many trials you did. We did 3 trials, so we need to change Groups to 3.
9. Now you should have a place for all your data. In the row that says, “Group Labels”, put
Trial 1, Trial 2, Trial 3. etc.
10. Next put in each Item Label and the Value (data) for each trial. For our experiment it might
start to look like this:
Item 1: Wood
34
31
28
Item 2: Cement
48
45
42
**Note: ONLY put numbers in the Value boxes.
If you put in any letters (like cm) your graph won’t work.
11. The “Min Value and Max Value” boxes probably can be left blank. They’re used when you
have a large difference between values, and want to have the scale start at a different
number than zero.
12. The Labels tab will allow you to change the font, style, etc. of your graph.
13. At this point, you can check out how your graph looks by clicking on the Preview tab.
14. Click on the “Print/Save” tab when your graph is completed. You have a few options:
a. You can click on Print, and print it on your own computer.
b. You can click on Download, and save it on your computer. You might change the
“File Format” to JPG, because those types of files are easy to work with.
c. You can “Email this Graph” Mr. Thornton your graph, and I’ll print it up here at
school for you. It will only be in black and white however. If you email your graph to
me, you have to get my email address exact, or I won’t get it. Here it is:
[email protected]
Double check your typing! (notice the dots, and that is a “one” after the k, and an “L” after the f.)
For best results:
 Use a plain font
 Think about a color scheme for your board. You can change the colors of the bars in the
Data tab.
 Vertical bars are preferred over Horizontal.

Remember you’ll also need to create a single bar (only 1 group) graph for your Average
Data.