LESSON 13: Teaching with Visual Symbols

ABSTRACTION

Your experience of the words and the graphs convinces you that a graph is easier
to understand than the words of a paragraph.

A. DRAWINGS
A drawing may not be the real thing but better to have a concrete visual aid
than nothing. To avoid confusion it is good that our drawing correctly represents
the real thing.
B. CARTOONS
A first-rate cartoon tells its story metaphorically. The perfect cartoon needs no
caption. The less the artist depends on words the more effective the symbolism.
The symbolism conveys the message.
C. STRIP DRAWINGS
These are commonly called comics or comic strips. Make uses of strips that
are educational and entertaining at the same time.
D. DIAGRAMS
“Diagram is any line drawing that shows arrangement and relations as of parts
to the whole relative values origins and development, chronological fluctuations
distributions etc.” (Dale 1969).
Types of Diagram
 Affinity Diagram - used to cluster complex apparently unrelated data into natural
and meaningful groups.
 Tree Diagram - used to chart out, in increasing detail, the various tasks that must
be accomplished to complete a project or achieve a specific objective.
 Fishbone Diagram - It is also called cause-and-effect diagram. It is a structured
form of brainstorming that graphically shows the relationship of possible causes
and subcauses directly related to an identified effect/problem.

E. CHARTS

A chart is a diagrammatic representation of relationships among individuals within

an organization.
Examples of Chart
 Time Chart - is a tabular time chart that presents data in ordinal sequence.
 Tree or Stream Chart - Depicts development, growth and change by beginning
with a single course (the trunk) which spreads out into many branches; or by
beginning with the many tributaries which the converge into a single channel.
 Flow Chart - is a visual way of charting or showing a process from beginning to
end. It is a means of analyzing a process.
  Organizational Chart - shows how one part of the organization relates to other
parts of the organization.
 Comparison and Contrast Chart - used to show similarities and differences
between two things (people, places, events, ideas, etc.).
 Pareto Chart - is a type of bar chart, prioritized in descending order of magnitude
or importance from left to right. It shows at a glance which factors are occurring
most.
 Gantt Chart - is an activity time chart.

F. GRAPHS
Depicts the relation between certain sets of numbers or quantities by means of a
series of dots, lines, etc., plotted with reference to a set of axes.
Examples of Graph
• Pie or Circle Graph - recommended for showing parts of whole.
• Bar Graph - used in comparing the magnitude of similar items at different ties or
seeing relative sizes of the parts of a whole.
• Pictorial Graph - make use of picture symbols.

G. MAPS

A map is a “representation of the surface of the earth or some part of it …” (Dale

1969)
Kinds of Map
• Physical Map - combines in a single projection data like altitude, temperature,
rainfall, precipitation, vegetation, and soil.
• Relief Map - has three dimensional representations and show contours of the
physical data of the earth or part of the earth.
• Commercial or Economic Map - also called product or industrial map since they
show land areas in relation to the economy.
• Political Map - gives detailed information about country, provinces, cities and
towns, roads and highways. Oceans, rivers and lakes are the main features of
most political maps.
Map Language
• Scale - shows how much of the actual earth’s surface is represented by a given
measurement on a map.
• Symbols - usually a map has a legend that explains what each symbol means.
• Color - the different colors of the map are part of the map language.
• Geographic Grids - the entire system of these grid lines are called grid lines.