Use and amount of information in Cartesian graphic representation in experimental science textbooks

Abstract

The cartesian graphical representations are very important in the curriculums of sciences and mathematics. In science particularly, they can be used to describe principles, to explain situations and to predict the behavior of the phenomena. This investigation determines the uses that display the cartesian graphical representations included in books of Physics - Chemistry used in secondary school in Spain and compares this use with the amount of pertinent information displayed inside and outside the graph, trying to establish the tendencies of the authors about this type of graphs.