Bat Maths (Connected 1, 2002, pages 24-25) follows another article, The Bat Detective. To illustrate the importance of context, give the bar graph on page 25 to the students to try and make sense of before reading the articles. Ask: What's missing? What else do we need to know? Revisit the graph after reading the articles, and discuss how the background information helped position the data.
In Figure It Out: Statistics
, Level 3-4 (2001) there is an activity called Bean Climbing. The questions that go with the graph on page 10 help students look at the patterns of the data.
Graphs published in newspapers, etc., are often good for conversations about the patterns shown, and what the graph does and does not show.
A teacher resource can be found in the support material of the Assessment Resource Banks:
Tables and graphs