Question

what kind of display would be the best way to represent the data below?
type of species | critically endangered (%) | endang
plants | 13 |
invertebrates | 0 |
freshwater fish | 9 |
amphibians | 7 |
reptiles | 5 |
birds | 0 |
mammals | 2 |
options: bar graph, pie chart, line graph, scatter plot

Explanation:

To determine the best data display, we analyze each option:

• Bar graph: Compares different categories (species types) by showing the percentage of critically endangered for each. It's ideal for categorical data with distinct groups.
• Pie chart: Requires data to represent parts of a whole (percentages summing to 100). Here, the percentages (13 + 0 + 9 + 7 + 5 + 0 + 2 = 38) don’t sum to 100, so a pie chart is inappropriate.
• Line graph: Shows trends over time or continuous data. The data here is categorical (species types), not time - series or continuous, so a line graph is not suitable.
• Scatter plot: Displays the relationship between two continuous variables. We have one categorical (species) and one numerical (percentage) variable, so a scatter plot is not suitable.

Since we need to compare the percentage of critically endangered across different species (categorical groups), a bar graph is the best choice.

Answer:

A. bar graph