Fake Chart Detective
Charts can tell the truth, or bend it. A stack of charts just came in. Some are lying. Catch them before we print.
Concept
Charts don't lie, but the people who make them do. Kid learns to spot truncated axes, cherry-picked ranges, and misleading scales that make data say whatever the creator wants.
The Experience
Kid is shown dramatic-looking real-world charts: one claims sales "doubled," but the Y-axis starts at 95, not 0, so the real change is a 3% increase; another claims crime is "skyrocketing" by cherry-picking 3 months out of a 10-year decline.
Each round follows the same pattern: form a gut reaction to the chart, then see the raw numbers behind it and rebuild the chart honestly, the gap between the manipulated version and the honest one is the lie.
The final challenge flips the exercise: given one set of raw numbers, build two different charts from it, one that tells a positive story and one that tells a negative story, putting the kid in the chart-maker's seat.
What Math Does The Kid Do?
- Reads and interprets axes, scales, and ranges.
- Calculates actual percentage change from raw numbers.
- Identifies a truncated axis and recalculates with the full range.
- Builds charts from identical data using different framings.
- Compares the visual impression of a chart against the real mathematical change.
Why This Matters
You'll never take a dramatic chart at face value again, checking the axis first, before the story it's telling, becomes second nature.
Frequently asked questions
Fake Chart Detective is tagged for Grades 6-12.
No: Fake Chart Detective plays directly in the browser, right on this page. No login, no download.
Fact-check a real-world claim: is it true, or does it just look true?