The pool: a quick tour before your first dive

The pool is the site’s chart tool. You open a file, pick how to draw it, and the chart draws itself.

Nothing you do here changes the file. Every button changes only what you see — so try anything. You cannot break the data.

The first section, down the left side. A dive opens the right file for you, so most of the time you leave this one alone.

You can also drop your own CSV here. It stays on your computer — it never leaves your browser.

Bar, line, histogram, scatter, a map, and more. Click one and the chart redraws.

A greyed-out shape does not fit the file you have open. Pick a different shape, or open a file that fits it.

This is where you choose what the chart is about. across is the bottom of the chart; up is the height of each mark.

In your first dive you open the encode section and set up to mag — how strong each earthquake was.

Bins and top rows. A histogram’s bins decide how wide each bar is — a few fat bars, or many thin ones.

Most dives leave tune alone. Reach for it when a chart has too much in it to read.

Move your pointer over any bar, dot, or slice. Its numbers show in the box just under the chart.

Click a mark to pin it, so the numbers stay while you look. Click it again to let go.

The last section. Write one sentence: I think… because… and I checked it by…

Then press hand in at the top of the chart. That one file carries your chart, your sentence, and the data — a teacher can open it with no software.

Open the pool and find the five sections you just met: file, shape, encode, tune, say.