The note
How schools teach it now
Year 6 reads pie charts using fractions: half the circle is half the total, a right angle (90°) is a quarter. The whole circle is 360°, so a slice's angle over 360 gives its fraction.
5-minute kitchen-table activity
Draw round a plate and make a pie chart of a Saturday: sleep, play, meals, screen time. A quarter is 6 hours and a third is 8 hours. Do the slices add up to 24 hours?
Worked example
A pie chart shows how 60 children travel to school. The 'walk' slice is 120°. How many children walk?
- The whole circle is 360°.
- 120° is 120/360 = 1/3 of the circle.
- 1/3 of 60 = 20.
Answer: 20 children
Common mistakes to watch for
- Comparing slices from two pie charts with different totals.
- Forgetting the whole circle is 360°.
- Treating the angle as the number of people.
Encouragement
- Try saying
- “What fraction of the circle is that slice?”
- Rather than
- “Just measure it.”