A diagram simplifies its subject and makes generalizations about it.

Key features

• Clear outlines simplify the subject. (This example is intended to represent all fire ants.)

• Colors identify parts of the subject.

• Heading ("Fire ant") provides the context.

• Color key names parts of the subject without cluttering the diagram with lines and arrows.

Fire ant

Diagram with color coding

In a color-coded diagram, each color has a meaning. In this diagram the color pink means "head" while pale blue means "leg." The diagram is not colored to look like a fire ant. (A fire ant does not have a pink head or blue legs.) Instead, colors are chosen to show the parts clearly. A color-coded diagram is a kind of picture glossary.

Why use color-coded diagrams in the classroom?

• To define unfamiliar or technical words. A diagram is more useful than a vocabulary list, because the diagram locates the meaning of the words.
• To name parts of a subject, and to show their relative sizes and positions.
• To show relationships between the parts. (For example, an ant does not just have six legs; it has three pairs of legs.)

Other diagrams to compare with this one:

• Diagram with labels (picture glossary)
• Scale diagram
• Cross section
• Cutaway diagram
• Exploded diagram

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