Jump to: Historical background Suggestions for Teachers Additional resources Background Human beings have represented numeric information for millennia, from the cuneiform of the ancient Sumerians to the Huexotzinco Codex of Mesoamerica to spreadsheets or tables of numbers in use today. But there is a difference between representing numbers and showing a summary view of the information using a chart or graph. Observing, reflecting on, and questioning charts and graphs allows students to hone the