Ratios can be represented using diagrams. The diagrams do not need to include realistic details. For example, there are 2 pairs of scissors and 6 glue sticks in a bin. Instead of this:

We can draw something like this:

This diagram shows that the ratio of glue sticks to pairs of scissors is 6 to 2. We can also see that for every pair of scissors, there are 3 glue sticks.