Thursday, January 24, 2008

Chart vs Graph

Question for you math types.

I've been telling my students that the terms chart and graph are
interchangeable, based on the fact that in Excel you use the *Chart
Wizard*to make a pie, column, or line chart. However, one of my
colleagues in
Science tells her students that you have to put your data into a
*chart*before you can create a
*graph* from it. I countered that what she's talking about is a *table*.

I then realized that what's going on here is something akin to the whole
deal with how the word *theory* is being used in the creationist/evolution
debates. There are two different usages of the word, based on whether you're
in science or not. The common, non-scientific use of the word is an *unproven
idea*. However, in science that's the definition of a *hypothesis*, which,
once proven, becomes a *theory*. The confusion over the use of this one word
in two different disciplines is what's led to a raft of problems. When I
mentioned this to my colleague, she suggested that I find out what terms *
math* people use, and so I'm asking you:


1. Do you use *chart* and *graph* interchangeably?
2. If you do, do you also use *chart* and *table* interchangeably?
3. Do you not use *table* at all, but use *chart* for where the data
goes and *graph* for the pictorial representation of the data?

Thanks.

--
keg

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Keith E Gatling - Computer Instructor
Manlius Pebble Hill School
5300 Jamesville Rd
DeWitt, NY 13214
315.446.2452
http://www.gatling.us/keith

Some teachers teach subjects. Others teach students.
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