What is living graphs?

Provide a graph with labelled axes (e.g. time and impact, or location and importance) Give learners a set of statement cards describing events, facts or opinions Learners discuss and place each card at the correct position on the graph Discuss the resulting pattern and what it reveals about the topic

Living Graphs | Rainbow Curriculum

How it works

A living graph takes the familiar format of a graph and makes it interactive. The axes are pre-labelled by the teacher. The horizontal axis might represent time, and the vertical axis might represent the fortune, importance, or impact of something. Learners receive a set of statement cards and must discuss where each one should be placed on the graph.

Living graphs are more complex than fortune lines because learners must interpret both axes and make precise judgements about position. Placing a card involves sequencing (when did this happen?), evaluation (how significant was it?), and justification (why does this card go here and not there?).

For living maps, the same principle applies but with a geographical map instead of a graph. Learners place statement cards at the correct locations on a map, exploring spatial relationships and patterns.

Living graphs work particularly well in humanities subjects. A graph showing the changing fortunes of a Welsh industrial town over two centuries invites rich discussion about cause and effect. A living map of Welsh castles, with cards describing their strategic importance, combines geographical and historical thinking.

Classroom example

A Year 8 Humanities class in a Flintshire school is studying the Industrial Revolution in Wales. The horizontal axis shows dates from 1750 to 1900. The vertical axis shows "impact on ordinary people" from very negative to very positive. Statement cards include: "Ironworks open in Merthyr Tydfil - 1759", "Children as young as five work in mines", "Railways connect Welsh towns - 1840s", "Cholera outbreak in Swansea - 1849." Groups discuss and place each card, debating whether the railways were more positive than the ironworks were negative. The resulting pattern tells a complex story of progress and suffering.

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Curriculum for Wales connection

Living graphs develop the "Develop" strand of thinking skills through cause-and-effect analysis, sequencing, and interpreting information. They build cross-curricular numeracy through graph interpretation and support Humanities and Cynefin by rooting learning in Welsh contexts.

Rainbow Curriculum's Thinking Tools lens lets you track where data interpretation and analytical tools are planned across your curriculum, ensuring numeracy and reasoning skills develop across AoLEs.

Tips

Pre-label the axes clearly. Ambiguous labels lead to confusion rather than productive discussion.
Make the statement cards debatable. If the placement is obvious, there is nothing to discuss.
A common pitfall: providing too many cards. Ten to fifteen is plenty. More than that and groups rush through without discussion.
Photograph the completed graph and display it. Learners can revisit and adjust their placements after further learning.
Combine with fortune lines as a simpler precursor for younger learners.

Related tools

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Fishbone Diagram

A graphical organiser shaped like a fish skeleton where causes branch off a central spine leading to an effect, helping learners map cause-and-effect relationships.

Fortune Lines

A graph where learners plot how the fortunes or feelings of a character change over time, combining sequencing, interpretation and emotional understanding.

Sequencing

An ordering activity where learners arrange a set of statements, events, images, or steps into a logical or chronological sequence, developing understanding of process, cause and effect, and narrative structure.

What Happens Next?

A prediction activity where learners are given a scenario, narrative, or process at a critical point and must predict what will happen next, justifying their prediction with reasoning and evidence.