Two Way Tables for Kids: Rows, Columns, Totals and Percents (Grade 8 Math)

Hi, I'm Luna from DoodleBeez. Today we are reading two way tables. A two way table sorts the same group of people in two ways at once, using rows and columns.

Twenty students chose their favorite sport, soccer or basketball. The rows sort the students into boys and girls. The columns show each sport and the total. The last row adds up each column.

Six boys chose soccer and four chose basketball, so there are ten boys. Four girls chose soccer and six chose basketball, so there are ten girls. Ten plus ten makes twenty students.

To read one cell, find the row and then the column. How many girls chose basketball? Go along the girls row to the basketball column. The answer is six.

To find a total, add along a column or a row. Basketball has four boys plus six girls, which makes ten. The bottom right corner is the grand total. Twenty students were asked altogether.

Percents help us compare groups. Six out of ten boys chose soccer, which is sixty percent. Four out of ten girls chose soccer, which is forty percent. In this class, boys were more likely to choose soccer.

Now it's your turn. Using the same table, what percent of the girls chose basketball? Pause and try. Six of the ten girls chose basketball. Six divided by ten is sixty percent.

Great job! Remember, find a cell by its row and its column. Totals are at the ends of the rows and columns. Use percents to compare groups. Practice two way tables in Middle School Math at doodlebeez.com. See you next time!