Understand the idea.
Use numbers as evidence
Support a comparison with the counts you read. To find how many more, subtract the smaller count from the larger. Apple has six votes and banana four, so apple has more votes.
Equal counts mean a tie: neither category has more responses. A zero means nobody chose that category. Keep its label visible so readers can tell the difference between no votes and a missing category.
| Fruit | Children |
|---|---|
| Apple | 6 |
| Banana | 4 |
| Orange | 2 |
Be careful with conclusions
Say whose answers a display describes. A class vote tells us about that class when it voted. Even its most popular choice may not be everyone's choice, and another class might choose differently.
Look at group sizes before comparing two classes. A bigger class has more children available to vote. A larger vote count by itself does not show that a choice is a stronger favourite in that class.
| Game | Class A | Class B |
|---|---|---|
| Tag | 8 | 6 |
| Skipping | 4 | 6 |
See the method in action.
How many more?
Use the fruit table. How many more choose apple than orange?
Worked solution
- 1
Read the two counts in the fruit table.
These are the categories named in the question; the banana count is not needed for this difference.
- 2
Subtract to find how many more.
After matching two apple votes with the two orange votes, four apple votes remain.
- 3
Check the comparison.
Two orange votes and four more equal the six apple votes, so four more children chose apple.
4 more children.
A tie
Class B has 6 votes for Tag and 6 for Skipping. Explain the result.
Worked solution
- 1
Compare the two vote counts.
Tag and Skipping each have six votes.
- 2
Describe the result for Class B.
The difference is zero, so neither game has more votes. This Class B vote is tied.
The games are tied in this Class B vote.
Try it yourself.
Check your understanding
There are 7 dog votes and 4 cat votes. How many more dog votes are there?
Show answer & reasoning
3 more votes.
Match four of the dog votes with the four cat votes. There are dog votes left, so there are three more dog votes.
Keep practising
6 worksheet questions
Read the questions online
- Which fruit has the most votes in the supplied table?
Sample data: Fruit choices Fruit Children Apple 6 Banana 4 Orange 2 - How many more chose banana than orange?
Sample data: Fruit choices Fruit Children Apple 6 Banana 4 Orange 2 - Cricket has 5 votes, Soccer has 5 and Tennis has 3. Which choices are tied?
- A child reads the fruit table and says, “Everyone chose apple.” Explain the error.
Sample data: Fruit choices Fruit Children Apple 6 Banana 4 Orange 2 - Class A has 8 Tag votes from 12 children. Class B has 9 from 24 children. Does 9 being larger prove Tag is a stronger favourite in B?
- Write one comparison using numbers from the supplied travel table.
Sample data: Travel choices Way Children Walk 6 Car 5 Bus 3
Read the worked solutions
- Which fruit has the most votes in the supplied table?
Sample data: Fruit choices Fruit Children Apple 6 Banana 4 Orange 2 6 is greater than 4 and 2.
Apple. - How many more chose banana than orange?
Sample data: Fruit choices Fruit Children Apple 6 Banana 4 Orange 2 .
2 more. - Cricket has 5 votes, Soccer has 5 and Tennis has 3. Which choices are tied?
Both have 5 votes.
Cricket and Soccer. - A child reads the fruit table and says, “Everyone chose apple.” Explain the error.
Sample data: Fruit choices Fruit Children Apple 6 Banana 4 Orange 2 The largest group is not the whole group.
Four children chose banana and two chose orange, so not everyone chose apple. - Class A has 8 Tag votes from 12 children. Class B has 9 from 24 children. Does 9 being larger prove Tag is a stronger favourite in B?
Class B has twice as many children.
No. The class sizes are different and must be considered. - Write one comparison using numbers from the supplied travel table.
Sample data: Travel choices Way Children Walk 6 Car 5 Bus 3 Use two actual counts to support the comparison.
For example: 6 children walked and 3 used the bus, so 3 more walked. Other accurate comparisons are valid.
Curriculum reference & lesson scope
Australian Curriculum v9 / South Australian Curriculum
Categorical/count data; recording; displays; comparisons; guided question-to-conclusion investigation.
Official curriculum source ↗