Infographics JBlannin 2013 -

©JoBlannin www.joblannin.com

© JBLANNIN 2011 Page 1

Using Infographics

Joanne Blannin

Figure 1: http://bit.ly/yONC5j

In reading the Australian Curriculum, we can see that an understanding of

Statistics and Probability initially develops together. Then the curriculum

progressively builds the links between them. However, why has the language

changed? What we used to call ‘chance and data’ is now called Statistics and

Probability -‐ the documentation explains:



Statistics and probability: Although teachers are familiar with

the terms data and chance, statistics and probability more

adequately describe the nature of the learning goals and types of student activity.

For example, it is not enough to construct or summarise data — it is important to represent, interpret and analyse it.

Likewise, probability communicates that this study is more than

the chance that something will happen.

The terms provide for the continuity of content to the end of the

secondary years and acknowledge the increasing importance

and emphasis of these areas at all levels of study.1

To address this new emphasis (which may not actually be too far from what we

already do in our classroom), the first resource we are going to look at in this

topic will give you a chance to explore the ‘representing’ and ‘interpreting’ and

‘analysing’ ideas within the curriculum.

Infographics Infographics are where graphing goes wild! The amount of information,

comprehension and general head-‐tilting (you'll see what I mean!) required to

interpret these complex images is impressive! First check out the image below:

1 http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Australian_Curriculum_-_Maths.pdf



.



You can see that Infographics aim to make complex information simple. They use

graphics and word art to get their message across. They often use size to imply quantity

and the theme of the graphic generally matches the topic of the data (e.g. if the data is

about pollution, then the data might be represented using smoking chimney stacks).

You could argue that this particular Infographic (above) could easily be recreated using a

simple timeline. However, an Infographic aims to give the reader instant context for the

data, in this case using all green objects and a grape-‐vine to represent the timeline.

Compare this to a bar chart or line graph – the interpretation of an Infographic is often

much more complex, requiring more comparison and reflection than with

straightforward line graphs. Infographics offer more than simple facts and figures!

Here’s a section of another Infographic that focuses on why we should farm insects for

meat instead of animals!

Check out the entire image here:

http://dailyinfographic.com/wp-‐content/uploads/2011/05/eating-‐insects.jpeg

Notice that when you roll your mouse over the image on the website you can magnify or zoom in to aspects of the graph – making it even easier to analyse

the data presented. This kind of zooming is often a feature of Infographics and it’s always worth rolling over with the mouse or clicking the image to see if it

offers this useful function.





Finally…

There are Inforgraphics on nearly every subject you can imagine. To find one that

meets your needs go to Google Images and search for “(your topic) +

infographic”.

e.g. “infographics + insects”

or

“infographics + pollution”

Once you’ve had a look around (only about 10 minutes max is needed!), why not

find an infographic to use in classroom today?

To end, here’s an Infographic about coffee…you might need one about now!

Date post:	09-Feb-2022
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Infographics JBlannin 2013 -

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