PAss Functional Skills

Straight line graphs

Straight line graphs for Functional Skills Politics: what it means, how to set the working out, and the questions it is asked in.
  • Functional Skills
  • Politics
  • Spec G19 · G3 · G15
  • 12 min read
  • 7 revision boxes

Introduction

2 boxes
2 min read

What is straight line graphs?

Listen to this box

Transcript

A short spoken summary of straight line graphs and where it is used.

A spoken walk-through of straight line graphs before you read the notes.
Check the answer against an estimate before you move on, so a place-value slip is caught here.
Worth knowing: ≈160\approx 160.
6 rows

The straight line graphs reference table

Work through the method one line at a time and write down what changes at each step.
Term
Meaning
Example
Row 1 column 1
Row 1 column 2
a2+b2=c2a^2 + b^2 = c^2
Row 2 column 1
Row 2 column 2
≈160\approx 160
Row 3 column 1
Row 3 column 2
34×25\frac{3}{4} \times \frac{2}{5}
Row 4 column 1
Row 4 column 2
x2+5x+6=0x^2 + 5x + 6 = 0

Learning

3 boxes
4 steps

How to work with straight line graphs

The specification wording is precise here, and the mark scheme follows that wording exactly.
The layout below is the one the mark scheme expects.

Diagram showing straight line graphs laid out step by step

The same idea drawn out, so the method is visible.
  1. Read the question and write down what is being asked for.
  2. Set out the working for straight line graphs in the order the method gives.
  3. Substitute the values and simplify.
  4. Check the answer against an estimate before writing it down.
Start from the definition and substitute the numbers the question gives you.
Simplify one line at a time: x2+5x+6=0x^2 + 5x + 6 = 0.
Answer: 34×25\frac{3}{4} \times \frac{2}{5}
2 rules

Key facts: Straight line graphs

Read the units in the question before you start; a converted unit is the most common slip.

  • Rule 1

    How straight line graphs behaves in the 1st of the cases the specification names.
    x2+5x+6=0x^2 + 5x + 6 = 0

  • Rule 2

    How straight line graphs behaves in the 2nd of the cases the specification names.
    x2+5x+6=0x^2 + 5x + 6 = 0
3 steps

How to work with straight line graphs

Check the answer against an estimate before you move on, so a place-value slip is caught here.
The layout below is the one the mark scheme expects.

Diagram showing straight line graphs laid out step by step

The same idea drawn out, so the method is visible.
  1. Read the question and write down what is being asked for.
  2. Set out the working for straight line graphs in the order the method gives.
  3. Substitute the values and simplify.
  4. Check the answer against an estimate before writing it down.
Start from the definition and substitute the numbers the question gives you.
Simplify one line at a time: x2+5x+6=0x^2 + 5x + 6 = 0.
Answer: 49=7\sqrt{49} = 7

20 minutes

Get your predicted grade

Twenty questions gives you a predicted grade, your target, and the gap between them — plus the topics that close it fastest.
Get my predicted grade

Examples

2 boxes
4 marks · worked

Worked example: straight line graphs

Sketch the shape even when the question does not ask for one — it makes the next step obvious.
Worth knowing: 49=7\sqrt{49} = 7.
3 marks · worked

Practice question 7: 49=7\sqrt{49} = 7

Practise the routine version until it is automatic, then move to the multi-step questions.
The layout below is the one the mark scheme expects.

Diagram showing straight line graphs laid out step by step

The same idea drawn out, so the method is visible.

Practice bank

Thousands of revision questions

Every topic is backed by graded practice with instant marking and full solutions.
Try it now
Practice questions
18,000+
Topics
10
Marking and solutions
Instant

Common questions

How many marks is straight line graphs usually worth?
Between one and four, depending on how many steps the question asks for.
Is this on the Functional Skills Politics paper?
Yes — it sits in the Energy and matter strand.