How do I answer a question asking me to describe and/or explain a graph?

These questions should be easy mark gainers as they don't usually require a lot of prior knowledge. However, many students find that they consistently lose all their marks on these questions. With many exam boards now having a whole paper dedicated to data interpretation, it's important that you can get this right! Rules for graph questions: 1. Read the question! Is the graph asking you to explain or describe? ...describe: say what happens ...explain: say why it happens 2. For 'describe' questions the general rule of thumb is that the reader should be able to understand the main points of the graph without having to see the graph itself. You can do this by: - Describe the general trend (increase, decrease, sharp increase, steady, etc) e.g. There was an increase in the number of deaths over time - Pick out some specific points that you think are important to the data e.g. There was no increase in the number of deaths between 1980 and 2000 - Do a bit of number crunching (increases/decreases by X, percentage increase/decrease, doubled/halved) e.g. The number of deaths increased 5x between 1910 and 2010. Important: don't just quote figures here, this will not show sufficient information about the data. 3. For 'explain' questions make sure that you are using the information in the graph. Sometimes it's tempting to answer the question based on the topic the graph is covering - but this will not get you any marks! 4. Practice! Use past exam papers and make sure that you spend plenty of time reading the mark scheme so you know what the examiner expects from your answers.