Maps and Data
Learn
Maps and charts help us understand where goods come from and how people buy and sell things.
What Can Maps Show Us About Economics?
- Where goods are made - Farms, factories, and places that produce things
- Where goods are sold - Stores, markets, and shopping areas
- How goods travel - Roads, trains, and ships that move products
- Where people work - Offices, farms, and businesses in our community
Reading a Simple Map
When you look at a map about economics, look for:
- Symbols - Pictures that stand for stores, farms, or factories
- Labels - Words that tell you what places are
- The map key - A box that explains what the symbols mean
What Can Charts and Graphs Show Us?
Charts and graphs use pictures and bars to show numbers. They can tell us:
- How many of something there are
- Which thing has the most or least
- How things compare to each other
Types of Simple Charts
- Picture graphs - Use small pictures to show amounts
- Bar graphs - Use bars of different lengths to compare
- Tally charts - Use marks to count things
Examples
Example 1: Reading a Community Map
Imagine a map of a town with these symbols:
- A basket symbol = Grocery store
- A tractor symbol = Farm
- A building symbol = Factory
Question: The map shows 2 farms, 3 grocery stores, and 1 factory. Where are goods made?
Answer: Goods are made at the farms (food) and the factory (products). These are where producers work.
Example 2: Reading a Picture Graph
A picture graph shows apples sold at a farm stand:
- Monday: 3 apple pictures
- Tuesday: 5 apple pictures
- Wednesday: 2 apple pictures
Question: On which day did the farm sell the most apples?
Answer: Tuesday, because it has the most apple pictures (5).
Example 3: Using Data to Understand Economics
A bar graph shows how many workers are at different places:
- School: 20 workers
- Hospital: 15 workers
- Grocery Store: 10 workers
Question: Which place has the most people providing services?
Answer: The school has the most workers (20). Teachers provide the service of education.
Practice
Use what you learned about maps and data to answer these questions.
1. What does a map key do?
A) Shows you how to draw a map
B) Explains what the symbols mean
C) Tells you who made the map
D) Shows the date the map was made
2. On a map, a symbol of a cow probably shows:
A) A pet store
B) A farm
C) A school
D) A library
3. A picture graph uses pictures to show:
A) Colors
B) Directions
C) Amounts
D) Feelings
4. Look at this data: Store A sold 8 toys. Store B sold 5 toys. Store C sold 8 toys. Which stores sold the same amount?
A) Store A and Store B
B) Store B and Store C
C) Store A and Store C
D) All three stores
5. A map shows roads going from farms to a city. What might travel on those roads?
A) Goods like food
B) Rivers
C) Mountains
D) Schools
6. A bar graph shows that the red bar is longest. What does this tell us?
A) Red is the prettiest color
B) The red bar shows the most of something
C) Red things are the best
D) We should use more red
7. On a map, you see many store symbols near each other. This area is probably:
A) A forest
B) A farm area
C) A shopping area
D) A lake
8. A graph shows: Lemonade Stand sold 10 cups on hot days and 2 cups on cold days. What can you learn?
A) People buy more lemonade when it is hot
B) Lemonade is always popular
C) Cold days are better for selling
D) Lemonade is a service
9. Why would a store owner want to look at a graph of sales?
A) To learn how to draw better
B) To see what customers are buying
C) To find out the weather
D) To learn to read
10. A map shows that oranges are grown in one place but sold in another place far away. What does this tell us?
A) Oranges can travel to reach consumers
B) Oranges grow everywhere
C) Nobody wants oranges
D) Maps cannot show fruit
11. Which is the BEST way to show how many apples, bananas, and oranges a store sold?
A) A story
B) A bar graph
C) A map
D) A letter
12. Data shows: Farm A has 50 cows. Farm B has 30 cows. Farm C has 40 cows. Put the farms in order from MOST to FEWEST cows.
A) Farm A, Farm C, Farm B
B) Farm B, Farm C, Farm A
C) Farm C, Farm A, Farm B
D) Farm A, Farm B, Farm C
Check Your Understanding
Think about what you learned and answer these questions.
Quick Check 1: What are two things a map can show us about economics?
Quick Check 2: How is a picture graph different from a bar graph?
Quick Check 3: Why would it help a farmer to look at a map showing where grocery stores are?
Next Steps
- Practice reading simple graphs in books or online
- Look at a map of your community and find stores and businesses
- Move on to the next lesson about Claim and Evidence Writing