Visualizing Scientific Data: An essential component of research

What information is shown on the x-axis of the graph?

• a.population
• b.time
• c.population over time
• d.billions

What information is shown on the y-axis of the graph?

• a.population
• b.time
• c.population over time
• d.years

What are the units for the x-axis?

• a.population
• b.billions
• c.years
• d.time

What are the units for the y-axis?

• a.population
• b.billions
• c.years
• d.time

About how many people lived on the earth in 1900?

• a.1.5
• b.1,500,000
• c.1,500,000,000
• d.Can't tell from this graph

When did the world's population first surpass 1 billion?

• a.1800
• b.1825
• c.1900
• d.Can't tell from this graph

Which of the following statements best describes world population over time?

• a.A steady increase over the last 1000 years
• b.Little change over time
• c.There is an exponential trend - a steady increase followed by a rapid rise in the past 200 years.
• d.No apparent trend in population

How much has world population increased since 1000 AD?

• a.By about 6 billion people
• b.By about 6 people
• c.By about 5 billion people
• d.Can't tell from this graph

Using this graph, what do you predict will happen to world population in the future?

• a.Population will not change much.
• b.Population will start to decrease.
• c.Population will continue to increase, but very slowly.
• d.Population will continue to increase rapidly.

Population is not evenly distributed all over the world. What other kind of visual data would give us the most insight into where most people live?

• a.A pie graph showing the population of the most populous countries
• b.A world map showing population densities and country borders
• c.A table of all of the countries in alphabetical order and their populations
• d.A histogram of all of the countries and their populations