#Funny venn diagrams graphs plus#

Is ‘cubic equation’ an object or a category? Is it as simple as whether it is plural or singular?Īs with language, we would expect the field of data representation (to some extent) to shift, evolve and change meaning over time, and there is no reason why ‘Venn diagrams’ needs to go the way of Cornish pasties – reserved only for a very specific selection of objects to maintain particular boundaries. What’s interesting here is that the distinction we made earlier between objects and categories which seemed pretty clear-cut then, now might not seem so obvious. (I maintain that ‘marmalade’ goes inside ‘jam’ in the same way, but some readers may disagree.) For example, if we drew a large circle to represent ‘equations’, then the circle representing ‘cubic equations’ would go entirely inside it, as there cannot exist a cubic equation that isn’t part of the larger category of equations.

What we call Venn diagrams also now usually covers Euler diagrams, which is a similar concept but contains concentric sets – the idea of categories-within-categories. The second kind, often used in English or other humanities lessons, is the contrast and compare use, where the circles represent things, and the categories (or attributes/properties of that category) are put inside them. One type of Venn diagram – the classification use – is often used in maths lessons, and asks pupils to put things inside the circles and label the circles themselves as categories (or attributes/properties of that category). When questioned, both teachers and pupils were unaware of these differences or complexities, or even that there were two types of common use.

Kimmins and Winters (2015) 1 identified this with great clarity: Venns are being used in two very different ways – often both alongside one another – with primary-age children, and often without any explicit attention drawn as to their different uses.

#Funny venn diagrams graphs plus#

‘It’s not just a thing plus a thing gives another thing.’ ‘For it to work, the thing in the middle has to belong to both categories,’ says Anna.