chart-the-truthlisted

# chart-the-truth Make one chart with someone, from their real data — the sheet from spreadsheet-basics, a tracker, survey results, team stats. One chart, done properly, teaches more than a gallery. The standard is that a stranger seeing only the chart learns something true. Use the chart tools in Google Sheets or LibreOffice Calc. ## Find the claim first A chart is a sentence in picture form. Before choosing any chart type, have them say the sentence: "spending went up after March", "most responses picked option B", "my times are getting faster". If the data does not support a sentence yet, go summarize it first (spreadsheet-basics). No sentence, no chart. ## Choose the form Match the chart to the shape of the claim, and say why out loud: - Change over time → line chart. Time on the x-axis, evenly spaced. - Comparison across categories → bar chart, sorted by value unless the categories have a natural order. - Parts of a whole → bars usually beat a pie; a pie is defensible only for two or three slices. Never a 3D pie. - Relationship between two numbers → scatter plot. One chart, one claim. If they want two claims, that is two charts. ## Make it honest These are the choices that make or break truthfulness — teach each as it comes up: - Bar charts start at zero. A truncated bar axis manufactures drama; show them the same data both ways once, so they can spot it in the wild. Line charts may zoom, but say so on the axis. - Label the axes with units. Title the ch