Using Excel: Nice.
Or, how to Perform Calculations,
Create Tables, and Make Graphs
Easily
Excel Basics



Spreadsheet computer programs make it
easy to display and organize data, perform
calculations, and graph
They are essentially the computerized
version of a business ledger (before my time,
so it’s before yours, too)
Spreadsheets make it easy to work with large
numbers of… numbers!
Microsoft Excel





Microsoft Excel is the “industry standard” in
spreadsheet software
It is used by just about every upper-level high school
student, every college student, and every
professional
Employers often expect that employees know how
to use Excel
Excel skills = $$$$$$$$
Because science uses math so often, we will learn
to use Excel to work with data in Biology
Follow Along

Follow along as we go through the process of
learning Excel basics
Step 1: Getting Started



First, open Microsoft Excel
A blank worksheet appears
Your screen should look like this:
Step 2: The Cell



In a spreadsheet, a cell is the intersection of
a row and a column
It is named by the combination of the column
name and the row name
For example, Cell A1 would be in column A
and row 1
Cell A1
Cell
Cell C3


Find and click the cursor on cell C3
Your screen should look like this
Step 2
Cell C3
Highlights




Notice that the column and row of the cell are
highlighted in orange, to help you see your
cell
In this case, cell C3 is called the “active cell”
This active cell is the currently-selected cell
It is highlighted with a black box in Excel
Rows


You may have noticed columns are oriented
vertically in spreadsheets, and are named by
uppercase letters in Excel
Rows are oriented horizontally in
spreadsheets, and are named by numbers in
Excel
Spreadsheet Titles



Always give your spreadsheet a title
You will probably not be the only person
looking at these numbers, so giving your
spreadsheet a title allows another person to
understand what the data is supposed to
show.
It is also important to give headings to rows
and columns so it is easy to see what that
data represents.
Using Cells


Click in Cell A1
Type “Electronic Products”
Typing Title

The upper left-hand portion of your screen
should look like this:
Fitting Text into Cells


You will notice after typing the spreadsheet
title that it does not fit in the cell
This will happen often, but there are many
ways to resize a column or row so the data
will fit
Resizing Cell

Move your mouse to the line circled



Click-and-hold the line to drag it right
Adjust the line to just fit the text
Your screen should now look like this
Alternative Method

Double-clicking on the circled line resized the
cell so that the cell fits the text
Cell Autofit


Double-click the line
Your screen should look like this
Changing the Font


Using the toolbar at the top of the screen,
change the font size to 20, and change the
font to bold
Your screen should look like this
Screen View
Setting Up a Table



Next, we will set up a table
We will enter electronics products and the
number of students who own each type
Electronic products that we will consider:





iPods (or other brands of MP3 player)
Cell phones
Computers (laptops or desktops)
Flat-screen TVs
iPads (anyone?)
Setting Up the Table



We will enter each type of electronic devce
as a separate row in our spreadsheet
Let’s do that now
Enter the rows as you see on the next slide
Formatting the Table



Let’s change the width of column A to fit all of
the categories of electronics
How would you do this?
Your screen should look like this
Table View
Adding a Column


Now, let’s add another column
Enter “Number of Students” in cell B4 and
adjust the width of the column to fit the
column header
Table
Enter Data





Let’s survey the class and fill in the data table
Enter the class data collected in column B,
starting with cell B6
You can press the “Enter” key to advance
from one cell to the next cell below it
Enter the data
The next screen shows sample data (your
numbers will be different)
Enter Data
Formatting the Table




Notice that all of the numbers aligned to the righthand side of the cells, whereas the electronics
categories aligned to the right-hand side of the cell
Let’s change the alignment of the numerical data
To do so, highlight all of the numbers by clicking on
cell B5 and then dragging the cursor down until you
capture all of the cells from B5 to B10
Your screen should look like this
Screen
Change Alignment



Click the “Align Left” button on the top of the
screen
Your data should now be aligned to the lefthand side of the cells
Your screen should look like this
Change Alignment
Table




Next, let’s add a column
Let’s add a column called “Average Price of
Device”
Enter this in cell C5, and adjust the width of
the column to fit this data
Your screen should look like this
Table
Table



Let’s enter price information
The prices are rough estimates
Enter the data in column C, so that your
screen looks like this
Table
Table



Let’s add another column
Enter “Cost” in cell D4
Your screen should look like this
Table
Formulas




Next, we will learn how to calculate the total
cost that the class spent on each type of
device
We will use the formula bar to do this
Click on cell D5 to make it the active cell
Then, locate the formula bar at the top of the
screen
Formula Bar
Formula Bar
Using Formulas






Now that cell D5 is active, we will use a formula
We will multiple the number of students in the class
who own each type of electronic device by the
average price of each device to determine the
amount spent on each type
Double-click cell D5, and type “=,” (do not type the
quotation marks)
Then, click on cell B5, and type “*”
Finally, click on cell C5
Your screen should look like this
Formulas
Formulas





Notice that Excel color-codes the cell, and places a
flashing dashed line around the second cell named
in the formula
Also, notice that the formula appears in the formula
bar
You can later edit the formula by changing the text
entered in the formula bar
Once you have the formulated entered, push “Enter”
Your screen should now look like this
Formulas
Fill Down




Next, let’s apply the same formula to each
row in the data table
Make D5 the active cell by clicking on it
Drag the cursor from cell D5 through D9,
highlighting these cells
Your screen should look like this
Fill Down
Fill Down



In the menu bar, click on Edit, then go to Fill,
and select “Down”
This fills the formula down the column,
applying the multiplication to each row of
numbers
Your screen should look like this
Formatting the Cells




Now, let’s format the cells, so that they
appear as dollar figures
Right-click on the highlighted column of cells
Select “Format Cells”
Your screen should look like this
Formatting Cells
Formatting Cells

After you have clicked on “Format Cells,”
your screen will look like this
Formatting Cells
Formatting Cells


Click on the “Number” tab
Your screen should look like this
Formatting Cells
Formatting Cells


Next, scroll down, and click on “Currency”
Your screen should look like this
Formatting Cells
Formatting Cells


Click “OK”
Your screen should look like this
Formatting Cells
Formatting Cells

Using what you just learned, apply the
currency formatting to cells C5 through C9,
also
Formula: Sum




Next, let’s determine the total amount spent
on electronic devices, quickly
Maintain the highlighting in over cells D5
through D9
Find the Autosum button at the top of the
screen, and click on it
You will see the total appear in cell D10
Autosum
Push this,
and you will
see the total
appear here
Average





Next, let’s determine the average price of
each type of electronic device
In cell B10, type “Average Price”
Make cell C10 the active cell
In the cell, type “AVERAGE”, and then type
“(,” then highlight cells C5 through C9, and
type “)”
Your screen should look like this
Average
Average


Press the “Enter” key
Your screen should look like this
Average
Formatting the Table




Let’s format the table
Make cell A4 the active cell
Drag the cursor to cell D10, highlighting the
entire table
Your screen should look like this
Formatting the Table
Formatting the Table



Place the cursor over the highlighted area,
and right-click the mouse
Scroll to “Format Cells”
Your screen should look like this
Formatting the Table
Formatting the Table


Click on “Format Cells,”
Your screen should look like this
Formatting the Table
Formatting the Table


Click on the “Border” tab
Your screen should look like this
Formatting the Table
Formatting the Table



Click on the heavy black line in the “Style”
window pane, and then click on the “Outline”
box
This creates a border around the table
Your screen should look like this
Formatting the Table
Click on this
And then
this
Formatting the Table




Now, let’s create column and row division
lines
Click on the thin black line on the left-hand
bottom of the “Style” window pane
Then, click on the “Inside” button
Your screen should look like this
Formatting the Table
Click on this
And then
this
Formatting the Table


Then, click “OK”
Your screen should look like this
Formatting the Table
Creating a Graph

Next, let’s create a graph from our data
Creating a Graph



Start by highlighting the data, from cell A5 to
cell B9
Then, click on the “Chart Wizard” button on
the toolbar at the top of the screen
Your screen should look like this
Creating a Graph
Click on this
Creating a Graph

Your screen will look like this
Creating a Graph
Creating a Graph

In the Chart Wizard window, click on “Line” to
select a line graph, and then click “Next”
Creating a Graph
Click on this
And then
this
Creating a Graph


Next, your screen will look like this
Then, click on “Series”
Click on this
Creating a Graph




In Excel, a series is a set of data that one can
graph
Typically, the data is listed in rows or columns
We will rename the current data set, and then
graph the data
In the Series window pane, click on the
button next to the “Name” box
Creating a Graph
Click on this
Creating a Graph

Now, your screen will look like this
Creating a Graph
Creating a Graph



You will notice that the cursor is flashing in
the small “Source Data” window
Click on Cell B4 to make it the active cell, and
to use “Number of Students” as the name of
the series
Your screen will look like this
Creating a Graph
Creating a Graph


Then hit “Enter” to return to the previous
window
Your screen will look like this
Creating a Graph


Next, in the Series window pane, click on the
button next to the “Values” box
Your screen will look like this
Creating a Graph
Click on this

Your screen will look like this
Creating a Graph
Creating a Graph

Notice that Excel is “smart” enough to have
already selected the data that we want to
graph, and a flashing dashed line surrounds
our student number data
Creating a Graph



Hit “Enter”
Then, click on the button next to “Category
(X) axis labels”
Your screen will look like this
Creating a Graph
Click on this
Creating a Graph

Your screen will look like this
Creating a Graph
Creating a Graph


Notice that, once again, Excel is “smart”
enough to know what values we want to
appear on the graph’s X axis
If this were not the case, we could have
highlighted the cells with the values that we
wanted to select
Creating a Graph


Then, click “Next”
Your screen should look like this
Creating a Graph
Creating a Graph





In the “Title” box, type “Amounts Spent on
Electronics”
“Category (X) axis” box, type “Number of
Students”
In the “Value (Y) axis” box, type “Price”
Then, click “Next”
Your screen should look like this
Creating a Graph
Click on this
Creating a Graph

Then, click “Finish”
Creating a Graph
Click on this
Creating a Graph


Your graph appears in the spreadsheet
Your screen should look like this
Creating a Graph
Sweet!


Refer to this handout to help you refresh your
memory
Go Excel!