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.

  1. How much have Treasury rates changed in the past year?
  2. Where does US electricity come from?

Chart 1 of 2 · Interest rates

How much have Treasury rates changed in the past year?

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.

Over the year to November 5, 2026, the changes in Treasury rates ranged from 0.88 percentage points for 3 yr loans to 0.03 for 1 mo loans (a minus sign means the rate fell). The 2-year rate changed by 0.83 points and the 10-year rate by 0.67. Each bar compares the latest day Treasury has published with the same day a year earlier, or the last business day before it.

Questions to discuss

  1. In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
  2. Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
  3. Who collected these numbers, and how recent are they? What else would you want to know before drawing a conclusion?

Source: U.S. Treasury, Daily Treasury Par Yield Curve Rates (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Nov 5, 2026

Open the chart and its numbers

Chart 2 of 2 · Energy

Where does US electricity come from?

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.

In 2025 natural gas made 40.8% of US electricity, followed by nuclear (17.7%) and coal (16.6%). Wind made 10.5% and solar 6.7%. Solar counts only utility-scale plants, not rooftop panels, and the 2025 figures are preliminary.

How to read this chart

Each bar is one energy source's share of all the electricity made in the U.S. in a year, so the bars add up to about 100%. The bars start at zero, so a bar twice as long means twice the share. Solar counts only large power plants, not panels on rooftops.

Questions to discuss

  1. Which source makes the most electricity? About how many times more than the smallest bar?
  2. Which of these sources burn fuel and which don't? What share of electricity comes from each group?
  3. Why might a chart of this kind look different in your state than for the whole country?

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review (Table 7.2a) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Dec 31, 2025

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