Category: Bad Maths

  • A gallery of bad graphs

    I collect bad graphs.

    I used to keep them as a PowerPoint, but I thought I’d bring them together here as a slideshow. I did promise to do this a month ago. Sorry to @VVMinkov on Twitter.

    Usually I present the graphs. Ask students to think for themselves for 30 seconds. Then talk to their partner to 1 minute.

    I might ask : ‘Why is this graph bad? Do you think it is deliberately bad? If so, are the creators of the graph trying to tell a story? If not, what mistakes have they made?’

    I will try and update this slideshow when people send me more bad graphs.

    Click any image to launch a full screen gallery.

  • Bad Maths

    A student sent me this.

    I’ve started a ‘bad maths’ category. Does showing students this kind of stuff and asking for them to be aware/send examples to you make them more mathematically aware?