Differentiation is defined as the rate of change of a function. Imagine we had a function f(x), which we shall let equal x2. We all know what the graph of x2 looks like.
The derivative of x2 is 2x. This means that, as the variable x increases, the gradient increases by 2x. In graphing a derivative, effectively the gradient is on the y axis, hence the steeper the curve of y, the higher the derivative.