NCERT Class 2 Maths (Joyful Mathematics) · Chapter 11

Data Handling

Collecting information, making tables with tally counts, drawing picture charts, reading them (most, least, more, less), and a fun set of puzzles.

📌 What you’ll learn in this chapter
  • Counting and sorting things into a table
  • Drawing a picture chart (1 face = 1 child)
  • Reading charts: most, least, more than, less than
  • Doing your own small surveys
  • Brain-teaser puzzles

🍦 Let’s Begin: The Ice-cream Survey

Teacher asks, “Which ice-cream flavour do you like?” Tina makes a table:

Chocolate: 6 · Mango: 4 · Vanilla: 2

Now everyone can see at a glance: chocolate is liked most, and vanilla least. That’s data handling! 🍫

📋 Part 1: Making a Table

PetTallyNumber of children
Dog||||4
Cat|||3
Fish|1
💡 Tick as you count Put a small tick on each thing in the picture as you count it, so you don’t count anything twice.

📊 Part 2: Picture Charts

Draw one 🙂 for each child. The tallest column is the most and the shortest is the least.

Dog🙂🙂🙂🙂
Cat🙂🙂🙂
Fish🙂
⚠️ Common mistake Drawing faces of different sizes. ❌ Keep every face the same size and in a neat line, so you can compare the rows easily.

✏️ Practice Time

Try these on your own first, then check your answer below each question.

Q1. Using the pet table above, how many children were asked?
✅ Answer4 + 3 + 1 = 8
Q2. How many more children like dogs than fish?
✅ Answer4 − 1 = 3
Q3. Which pet is liked less than cats?
✅ AnswerFish

📘 NCERT Textbook Activity Help

Hints and answers for the activities in the textbook, page by page. Try each one yourself before looking at the answer!

Page 123 · Favourite colours

Count the clothes

✅ AnswerRed 1 · Green 3 · Blue 4 · Yellow 2
A. Most liked: Blue · B. Least liked: Red · C. Yellow is liked more than red · D. Blue is liked more than green · E. Red is liked less than yellow (or green or blue)
Page 124 · Picnic day

Fruit table

✅ AnswerBanana 5 · Orange 2 · Apple 2 · Kiwi 1 · Guava 3
A. 13 children · B. 2 · C. Banana · D. Kiwi · E. Guava (3) is more than apple (2) · F. Apple is less than banana · G. Orange is more than kiwi
Pages 125–126 · Coming to school

Table and face chart

✅ AnswerOn foot 8 (given) · Autorickshaw 7 (3 + 4 in the two autos) · Bicycle 5 · Bike 2 (children on the motorbike, not counting the driver) · Bus 12 (2 in each of the 6 windows)
Draw that many faces in each column.
A. Most: bus · B. Least: bike · C. Bus is more than autorickshaw · D. Bike is less than bicycle · E. Sample: bicycle is less than on foot · F. Sample: autorickshaw is more than bicycle
Pages 127–128 · Games we play

Count the players

✅ AnswerCount the children around each game (tick them as you go). Our count from the picture: Cricket about 8 · Football 6 · Kabaddi 6 · Pithu about 5 · Gilli-danda 4. Your count may differ by one or two, and that’s fine if you counted carefully.
A. Most liked: cricket · B. Least liked: gilli-danda · C. Pithu is liked more than gilli-danda · D. Cricket is liked more than football.
Pages 128–129 · Your own surveys

Vegetables, families, and grandparents

✅ AnswerThese have your own answers. Ask each friend, make a tick in the table, then count the ticks. The row with the most ticks is the “most” answer, and the row with the fewest is the “least”.
Pages 130–131 · Puzzles A–D

Shapes, pattern, think and complete

✅ AnswerA. Join each pair (star to star, circle to circle, and so on) with only up, down, left, and right lines. Start with the pairs that are close together, and go around the others.
B. 2 + 2 = 4 · going down: 2 + 1 = 3 · 1 + 3 = 4
C. i. The outside and inside shapes swap places, so the answer is (c): a red circle with the star inside. ii. Each number turns into its mirror image. 5 (backwards) → 5, the second one → 9, and 7 → a backwards 7.
D. Yes, it is always 4! Try 5: 5 → 10 → 18 → 18 − 9 = 9 → 9 − 5 = 4.
Pages 132–133 · Puzzles E–I

Ant, word search, shadow, cat, and matchsticks

✅ AnswerE. Count the routes that go only up and left along the lines. There are 5 ways along the straight lines, and 14 if the ant may also walk along the slanted edge.
F. Across: sixteen (row 1), fifteen (row 3), fourteen (row 4), twelve (row 5), eighteen (row 10), seventeen (row 11). Down: thirteen (4th column), nineteen (10th column), twenty (last column). Up: eleven (2nd column, read from the bottom).
G. Compare the antennae, the 6 hands, and the feet. Shadow 1 has no antennae and shadow 5 has different feet, so those are out. Check the hands on the rest to find the exact match.
H. 3 ways: up the left side then across the top, across the bottom then up the right side, or along the slanted line.
I. Remove the 2 inside sticks of the top-left small square (its right side and its bottom side). You are left with the big outer square and one small square.
Pages 134–135 · Puzzles J–N

Who am I, balls, digits, and maze

✅ AnswerJ. A circle (a wheel or tyre).
K. Three odd numbers can never add up to 30! The trick is to turn the 9 upside down to make 6: 6 + 11 + 13 = 30.
L. For example, 11 and 22, or 33, 44, 55 (use the same digit twice).
M–N. Trace a path from the arrow to the tree without crossing any lines. Name the animals in the order your path passes them. iii and iv have your own answers (for example, “I remember shops and landmarks on the way”).
Pages 136–137 · Puzzles O–V

Rectangles, hexagons, mirror, and more

✅ AnswerO. 10 rectangles: 4 small squares, 4 long rectangles (2 standing and 2 sleeping), 1 big square, and 1 tilted square joining the middle dots of each side.
P. Fill each part with a sum or difference that makes the middle number. For 9: 18 − 9, 6 + 3, 5 + 4, 10 − 1… For 13: 10 + 3, 20 − 7, 8 + 5… For 19: 10 + 9, 20 − 1, 12 + 7…
Q. Draw lines so that each part has one tree, one sheep, and one dog. The lines can bend, and the parts do not need to be the same size.
R. i. 54 · ii. 83 · iii. 69 · iv. 71 (hold the page up to a mirror to check)
S. Put 4 in the middle circle. The arms are 1 and 7, 2 and 6, 3 and 5, so each arm totals 12. (1 or 7 in the middle also works.)
T. 5 cuts. The last cut makes 2 pieces at once.
U. 9 (9 + 9 = 18)
V. For example: 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 8 = (that’s 10 keys) → 28

👨‍👩‍👧 Tips for Parents

  • Do a family survey: favourite fruit, colour, or TV show. Make a face chart.
  • Count the vehicles passing by for 5 minutes and make a table.
  • Try one puzzle a day from this chapter together.
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