Line plot maker with fractions

What the line plot maker does

A line plot shows data as X marks stacked above a number line, one X for each value. On this page you choose a number line of whole numbers from 0 to 10, halves from 0 to 5, or quarters from 0 to 3. Tap above a number to add an X and tap an X to remove one. With a keyboard, use the arrow keys or the buttons under the plot.

The readout counts the X marks and gives the mode (the value that appears most often) and the range (the largest value minus the smallest). On the halves and quarters lines it also adds all the values together, which is the kind of problem fraction line plots are used for in grades 4 and 5. Plot this data gives you a list of measurements to plot, and the Mode and range puzzle gives you three clues to match.

Why make line plots by hand

Plotting values one at a time makes children read each number carefully and find its place on the line, which is good number line practice, especially with fractions. Watching the stacks grow shows the shape of the data: where it bunches up, where it spreads out and whether one value sits far from the rest. The puzzles turn reading into reasoning, because children have to plan where the X marks go.

Common mix-ups

• Writing the count of X marks as the value. The value is the number under the stack, and the height is how many times it appears.
• Placing 1½ halfway between 1 and 3. On a halves line, 1½ is the tick right after 1.
• Thinking the mode is the biggest number. The mode is the value with the tallest stack.
• Finding the range as the highest stack minus the lowest. The range uses the values on the line: largest minus smallest.

A 10-minute line plot lesson

• Choose Halves and press Plot this data.
• Read the first value together and find its tick before tapping.
• Let the child plot the rest and wait for the cheer.
• Ask which height was most common and how much taller the tallest plant was than the shortest.
• Try a Mode and range puzzle and talk about how you planned it.

Where it fits by grade

• Grade 2: make a line plot of whole-number measurements (2.MD.D.9).
• Grade 3: make line plots of measurements to the nearest half or quarter inch (3.MD.B.4).
• Grade 4: make line plots with fractions such as halves and quarters and add and subtract them to solve problems (4.MD.B.4). The standard also includes eighths, which this tool does not show.
• Grade 5: use operations on fractions to solve problems from line plot data (5.MD.B.2).
• England's curriculum does not use the name line plot. Tally charts, tables and block diagrams in Years 2 to 4 do similar work, and mode and range appear in Key Stage 3.

Learning more

Fractions and mixed numbers are skills on Eurekami's skill map, and Daily Practice brings them back when they start to fade. Lessons draw number lines live from the numbers in each question, and the AI tutor asks guiding questions when a fraction problem is tricky.