See It Now Part 3
Making a Bar Graph

The types of cancer most prevalent in the United States (or in any country of the world, for that matter) have not been constant. Changing lifestyles, changing behavior, and changing public awareness of the risk factors for cancer over the years has caused different forms of cancer to increase or decrease in importance. This activity gives you a "snapshot" of the important forms of cancer, using 1999 data.

1. From the following data table, select the five most prevalent forms of cancer and draw a bar graph using this printable worksheet. Center each bar over one of the short lines on the horizontal axis. The scale between each horizontal dotted line equals 500,000 cases.

2. In the bar, write the name of the cancer.

3. Now add up the remaining forms of cancer and add a sixth bar to your graph.

4. Using your bar graph, add up the totals for the top five. Compare this sum with the total for all others.

5. What conclusions can you draw from the data about the relative importance of the top five forms of cancer?