Chart assignment
Charts to read and discuss
Read each chart, then answer its questions. Every chart shows its source and date; open it for a table of the numbers and the data to download.
Chart 1 of 2 · Food and drug safety
Which side effects are reported most for metformin?
The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.
Nausea (30,587 reports) and diarrhea (28,674) are the reactions named most often in reports to the FDA, as of September 2026, that list a medicine containing metformin, including combination pills. Nausea and diarrhea are known stomach side effects of metformin; high blood sugar may describe the diabetes being treated, and lactic acidosis is a rare but serious known risk. A report is not proof the medicine caused the problem: anyone can send one, it lists every medicine the person was taking, and the same case can be reported twice. Reports that the medicine didn't work or was used differently than labeled are left out. Don't stop a medicine without talking to a doctor.
Questions to discuss
- In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
- Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
- Who collected these numbers, and how recent are they? What else would you want to know before drawing a conclusion?
Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) via openFDA (Public domain (U.S. government work); source U.S. Food and Drug Administration, openFDA) · Data as of Sep 30, 2026
Open the chart and its numbersChart 2 of 2 · Road safety
Are U.S. roads getting safer per mile driven?
The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.
In 2024 there were 1.19 deaths for every 100 million miles driven, down from 3.35 in 1980. The lowest rate was 1.08 in 2014; it jumped to 1.34 in 2020, when people drove less but deaths rose. Miles driven are the Federal Highway Administration's estimates.
How to read this chart
Each point is the number of people killed in traffic crashes for every 100 million miles Americans drove that year. Dividing by miles driven turns a count into a rate, so years when people drove more or less can be compared fairly.
Questions to discuss
- About what fraction of the 1980 rate is the rate in the latest year?
- In 2020 people drove less, but the rate went up. What could explain that?
- Why is deaths per mile a fairer way to compare years than the total number of deaths?
Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and FHWA Highway Statistics (table VM-2) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Dec 31, 2024
Open the chart and its numbersTeachers: make your own chart assignment, or change this one. Free, no account needed.