This study clarified the actual conditions of students’ ability of retrieving information from graphs used in social studies textbooks for elementary school fifth graders. Ten multiple-choice questions were prepared based on the classification of the form of expression of graphs used in the textbook, and 1,291 students in sixth graders answered them. 34.9 percent of the students earned nine or more correct answers, while 25.3 percent of the students selected five or less right answers. The item analysis results showed that the latter students had chosen the incorrect answers regarding the graphs’ scales and display with the fewer values on the vertical axis. IRS analysis showed the order relation from questions that quoted graphs with less statistical comparisons to the ones with more.