lesson link TEACHER’S NOTES

Interpreting graphs
This lesson about interpreting graphs relates to a Study Page in the Oxford
Student’s Dictionary for learners using English to study other subjects. A joint
winner of the Duke of Edinburgh English Speaking Union English Language
Award 2008, it is the ideal companion for CLIL* and students in bilingual or
vocational schools. It contains all the words your students need for subjects
such as art, biology, business studies, computing, history, mathematics, travel
and tourism and much more. The Oxford 3000™ shows students the words
they need to know in English, and those in the Academic Word List are clearly
marked to help with academic writing. There are also 48 reference pages to
support academic writing and to help students improve their study skills. It is
recommended for IELTS and TOEFL® and other international exams.
* To find out more about CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) go to our Wordlink Archive February
2008 where John Clegg discusses the theory behind CLIL as a teaching method, and techniques for making it
work in your school.

Lesson Length 45 mins – 1 hour

Aims 1. To review vocabulary describing change
2. To practise interpreting graphs

Preparation
• Before the lesson you will need to ask students to find a graph or chart to bring to the lesson.
This could be from the internet or from a book/newspaper.
• You will need one copy of each worksheet per student.

Warmer
Ask students if they can identify and name the different types of graphs and charts on their
Activity worksheet. Students can use their Oxford Student’s Dictionary to help them. When they
have had time to compare and discuss write the following labels on the board and check they
have labelled their images correctly.
1  line graph   2  pie chart  3  flow chart   4  pictogram  5  bar chart   6  scatter diagram

Presentation: Describing change

Ask students to look at the picture of the line graph. What verbs could you use to describe
what is happening. What other verbs do they know to describe ‘going up’ or ‘going down’
Increase, decrease, plummet, soar etc.

Activity 1
Ask students to look at the activity worksheet. How many of the verbs in the box did they
know? Explain that all the verbs in the box can be used to describe changes commonly
represented on line graphs. Using their dictionaries ask them to answer the questions in
Activity 1.

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 lesson link TEACHER’S NOTES
Answers:
1 rocket, rise, increase, soar, peak
2 rocket, soar, peak
3 plummet, decrease, drop, decline, fall
4 peak
5 level out
6 fluctuate
In pairs students look at their own graphs and decide which parts can be described using
the verbs given

Activity 2
Explain that changes can also be described in more detail by modifying a verb with an
adverb. Students do Activity 2 matching a verb from box A with an adverb from box B to
describe the Magic Music download graph.
You could do number 1 as an example. Students then feed back their options.
(N.B. although a modifier cannot be used with fluctuate you can ask students what is
happening here)
1 2000-2004 sales increased steadily/slowly
2 2004-2005 sales rose/increased dramatically/sharply
3 2005-2006 sales dropped/fell/decreased moderately/slightly
4 2006-2008 [sales fluctuated]
5 2008-2009 sales rose/increased dramatically sharply
Students graphs
Now direct students back to their own graphs and in pairs describe the changes shown
using the verbs and modifiers used in Activities 1 and 2.
Explain that these ideas can be expressed in two different ways:
Downloads increased dramatically
(subject + verb + adverb)
There was a dramatic increase
(There was /were + adjective + noun + in + something)

Activity 3: Summarizing
Students read the summary of the Magic Music Downloads graph and correct the summary
by underlining the correct expression in bold (according to the graph)
The number of music downloads rose steadily from just under/well under 500,000 in 2000
to 1 million in 2004. By 2005 the number had doubled/trebled to exactly/approximately
2 million. 2006 showed a moderate fall in the number of downloads to nearly/over 1.5
million. Over the next year sales fluctuated before rocketing to 3 million this year. We still
do not believe that the number of downloads has peaked and predict that the number will
increase significantly/slightly over the next 3 to 4 years to well over 10 million.

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 lesson link TEACHER’S NOTES

Activity 4: Over to you

Now ask students to write a brief summary of their own graph using the language they
have covered in this lesson.

Extension
If you have time in this lesson or for the beginning of the next lesson:
Collect all the students’ graphs and stick these up around the room. While you are doing
this – get students to exchange summaries so they all have a different summary to look at.
They then have to read the summary and find the graph on the wall they think it refers to.
You could make this a competition to see who can spot their graph first. If there is time –
repeat the activity.

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 lesson link WORKSHEET

Interpreting Graphs
Warmer start

action decision
Others

Asia Europe action action

South
America decision end

1  2  3 

4  5  6 

Activity 1: Describing change

plummet decrease fluctuate peak rise drop
rocket increase decline level out soar fall

The verbs in the box above can all be used to describe changes commonly represented on line
graphs. Answer the following questions using your Oxford Student Dictionary if necessary.
1 Which 5 verbs mean go up?
2 Of these, which 3 mean go up suddenly/a lot?
3 Which 5 verbs mean go down?
4 Which verb means reach its highest level?
5 Which verb means stay the same?
6 Which verb means go up and down?

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 lesson link WORKSHEET

3 million Magic Music Downloads 2000-2009

2.5 million

2 million

1.5 million

1 million

0.5 million

0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Activity 2: Modifying change

Changes can also be described in more detail by modifying a verb with an adverb. Using a verb
from box A and an adverb from box B make sentences describing the changes represented on
the graph above.
   A increase decrease decline B dramatically sharply gradually slightly
   fall   rise drop rapidly  moderately slowly steadily

1 2000-2004 sales increased steadily/slowly

2 2004-2005
3 2005-2006
4 2006-2008
5 2008-2009

Activity 3: Summarizing
Read the following summary of the Magic Music Downloads. The expressions in bold refer to
time and amount. Underline the expression that you think is correct according to the graph.
The number of music downloads rose steadily from just under/well under 500,000 in 2000
to 1 million in 2004. By 2005 the number had doubled/trebled to exactly/approximately
2 million. 2006 showed a moderate fall in the number of downloads to nearly/over
1.5 million. Over the next year sales fluctuated before rocketing to 3 million this year. We
still do not believe that the number of downloads has peaked and predict that the number
will increase significantly/slightly over the next 3 to 4 years to well over 10 million.

Activity 4: Over to you

Write a brief summary of your own graph using the language you have covered in this lesson.

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