Excel for Charts and Graphs
Several curriculum standards are met with this activity (NCTM standards, MCF, and
NETS standards)
Kindergarten and
First Grade
students should:
•
•
•
gather data about themselves and their surrounding to
answer questions that involve multiple responses.
sort and classify objects and organize data according to the
attributes of the objects.
represent data to convey results at a glance using concrete
objects, pictures and numbers.
Young students can utilize Excel templates created by the
classroom teacher. Whole class graphs are an excellent way to
display data gathered by these students.
•
•
Second and Third
Grade students
should:
•
Fourth and Fifth
Grade students
should:
SOURCE
formulate questions they want to investigate
collect data using observations, measurements, surveys or
experiments.
use graphs to analyze data and present it to an audience for
in and outside the classroom.
Second and third Graders can use templates and begin creating
simple charts using chart wizard in Excel. Whole class as well as
individual charts and graphs can be created by these students.
Young students want to gather information about themselves.
• formulate multiple questions for an extended investigation
• compare and analyze representations to determine which
aspects they should be highlight or obscure .
• use the data as a vehicle to formulate answers to questions
and hypothesis and design further questions to study and
explore.
• look beyond themselves and the classroom and investigate
larger issues and questions.
Fourth and fifth graders build and format charts and graphs
independently. They explore and make decisions on what design
best displays the information they have gathered.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
©Kathy Adkins, 2000
http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/kadkins/strategy.htm
Go to the web sites listed above.
Check out the examples for each grade level.
Creating a Graph from a set of data, calculating averages and charting the results
Training materials created by Carolyn McCarthy. Permission for duplication for educational purposes
granted, please retain authorship on copies. Publication rights retained.
1
1
Go to the Start Menu, Select Programs, Then go to
A blank sheet will appear as shown below
Excel
2
Check the desktop and task bar at the bottom for a
shortcut already installed.
Basic Excel Toolbars shown.
3
Rows and Columns
4
Entering data into a Row
To enter data we first have to collect it or locate a
source. You can have each student give you their
height and measure their arm length for example.
You can have bags of M&M’s and have them
count how many of each color they have in their
bag and chart that. For this first example we’ll go
to the CIA World FactBook and get information
about some countries (meets social studies
standards too). If you teach lower el, skip down to
the example with M&M’s page 10 # 34
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/
factbook/
Training materials created by Carolyn McCarthy. Permission for duplication for educational purposes
granted, please retain authorship on copies. Publication rights retained.
2
5
DATA set from the World Factbook as of January 1, 2003 which will be used
Country
Afghanistan
Canada
China
Cuba
Iraq
Mexico
United
Kingdom
US
Land Area
647,500
9,093,507
Water
Area
9,326,410
110,860
432,162
1,923,040
270,550
0
4,910
49,510
Population
28,717,213
32,207,113
1,286,975,46
8
11,263,429
24,683,313
104,907,991
241,590
9,158,960
3,230
470,131
60,094,648
290,342,554
0
891,163
Life
Expectancy
46.97
79.83
AIDS
NA
55,000
Literac
y%
36
97
72.22
76.8
67.81
72.3
850,000
3,200
1,000
150,000
86
97
40
92
78.16
77.14
34,000
900,000
99
97
6
Entering Data on the first row (Row 1).
(Click in cell A1)
Type Country (press tab to move to the next cell after typing each of the headings here), Land
Area, Water Area, Population, Life Expect., AIDS, Literacy
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Enter the information for each country into a new row. (You could go to the World Factbook
web site listed and copy and paste the numbers into the appropriate cells from their site). If some
of your information shows up as #### or overlaps another cell, don’t worry we will fix that next.
8
Formatting the column width automatically.
¾ Put your cursor on the G above Literacy
in the column heading and click once (it
will change to an arrow), click and drag
across the row headings to the “A” to
“select all the columns”. They will appear
shaded.
Go to the FORMAT menu, Click down on
Column, and over to AutoFit Selection.
9
Formatting titles by selecting cells
This will automatically expand or contract the
column widths to fit the contents.
Click in cell A1 and drag across to G1
highlighting the first row of text.
on
To make these BOLD, click on the
the toolbar.
10 Formatting titles by selecting entire rows.
Another way is to select the entire row, click
on the 1 to the left of Row 1 to highlight the
entire row. Click on
to make them italics.
Training materials created by Carolyn McCarthy. Permission for duplication for educational purposes
granted, please retain authorship on copies. Publication rights retained.
3
11 Result
12 Totaling
Click in cell D10, below the Population to
calculate the total.
Click twice on the AutoSum symbol
the toolbar.
on
Notice the formula which now appears in the
formula bar
(It is summing up all the above)
13 Entering a formula
Click in cell B10 to get a total of the land
area for these countries.
This time we will type in the formula.
¾ Type =sum (this lets Excel know we are
entering a formula)
¾ Then type an open (
¾ Then type b2:b9
¾ Close the parenthesis )
¾ Final formula shows on the formula bar
above the spreadsheet. Click enter to see
the result.
14 Filling down or across a formula
Click on Cell B10 (the total we just created).
Notice the small black square in the lower
right corner of the cell.
Put your mouse on the corner and drag
(keeping the mouse depressed) to the right.
Training materials created by Carolyn McCarthy. Permission for duplication for educational purposes
granted, please retain authorship on copies. Publication rights retained.
4
15
You can type in Totals and bold the totals now.
16 Average life expectancy
Click in the cell at the bottom of Life
Expectancy.
Click on the Insert function fx
Select Average from the list
Click on OK
17
If the correct cells are identified, just click
OK.
If the correct cells are not identified, then
click on the
to open the Function
Arguments window and click and drag across
the cells you want averaged.
Training materials created by Carolyn McCarthy. Permission for duplication for educational purposes
granted, please retain authorship on copies. Publication rights retained.
5
18 Formatting the number totals
To format the totals so there are only 2
decimal places, highlight the cell
Go to the Format menu, select Cells.
Click on Number under Category:
In the Decimal places, use the down arrow to
make sure it shows “2” for Decimal places,
and click on OK.
19 Insert a new Column
We will insert a column to the right of
Population to figure Population per Sq.
Kilometer
Click on the column letter E above Life
Expectancy. Right-click and select Insert
This will insert a new column to the left.
20 Generating a Formula
Title it Pop/SqK
Click in cell E2
Type an =
Then click on cell D2 to the left.
Type a divided by symbol /
Click on B2 (to divide by land area)
Tap on the Enter key to complete it.
Result for Afghanistan
Click back on the cell, select the fill-down
square corner and drag down the rest of the
column to fill the formula down for the rest.
Training materials created by Carolyn McCarthy. Permission for duplication for educational purposes
granted, please retain authorship on copies. Publication rights retained.
6
21 Ready to graph: Select two non-contiguous
columns for our graph
Click on the E above Pop/SqK, hold down
your Control key (Ctrl) and click on the A
above Country.
Click on the chart wizard icon on the toolbar
22
Click and hold on the button that says
Press and Hold to View Sample.
Click on Next>
Click on Next>
Give your Chart a title: Population per
Square Kilometer
Click on Next>
23 Finishing the graph
Select As a new sheet
Type in PopPerSqK
Click Finish.
Training materials created by Carolyn McCarthy. Permission for duplication for educational purposes
granted, please retain authorship on copies. Publication rights retained.
7
24 The chart is on a new sheet.
Click on the bottom tab Sheet 1 to see the
original data.
Plot area
Series area
25
Formatting the plot area
Click back on the tab for PopPerSqK
Right-Click anywhere in the plot area to
select it.
Select Format Plot Area
26 Fill effects
You could select a solid color background by
clicking on any color.
Click on Fill Effects
27 Textures
Click on the texture tab
Scroll down through the different options.
Select the light blue “tissue paper” effect for
this example (you can change it later).
Click on OK
Training materials created by Carolyn McCarthy. Permission for duplication for educational purposes
granted, please retain authorship on copies. Publication rights retained.
8
28 Format Data Series
Right-click on one of the bars and select
Format Data Series
Select Fill Effects
29 Gradient
Click on the Shading Style:
Vertical
Click on the lower right style
And say OK, and OK again.
30 Do a line graph for Life Expectancy
This is practice time now.
Select the Literacy and Country columns (as
done previously using Ctrl), use the Chart
Wizard, select Line graph, and go forth.
Play with the background and data series
points. You can make them larger.
To get the major vertical grid lines do a rightclick on the background and select Chart
Options, then select the Gridlines tab and put
a check in the box for Major gridlines.
31 Think of all the questions which can be raised from
comparing data from this set of data.
32 Sorting the data
Click on Sheet 1 to return to your data set.
Click on the square above Row 1 and to the
left of Column A to select the entire sheet.
Click on the menu: Data and select Sort
Training materials created by Carolyn McCarthy. Permission for duplication for educational purposes
granted, please retain authorship on copies. Publication rights retained.
9
Use the drop-down arrow to select Population
for example.
33
Make sure the box is filled in where it says
“My list has” Header Row
Click on OK and see how you can sort by any
set you want.
If you wanted it Descending instead of
Ascending, just select the button on the Sort
menu.
Try sorting by Pop/SqK and then by Literacy
in descending order and see what you get.
Now sort by Literacy and some other factor
and see if you can find any correlation.
What else might be factors? You can return to
the CIA world factbook and get additional
information to enter.
M&M’s
34 Purchase some small bags of M&M’s (or create
some bags of different colored objects from your
classroom)
35 Open Excel and click in the first cell (A1) just like
playing Bingo.
Type the title and press tab to go to the next cell to
enter the next title.
Group – Red – Brown – Yellow – Green - Blue
36 Click on the 1 to the left of Group to select the
entire row, and click on the Bold symbol on the
toolbar.
37 Have the students (in groups) tally the number of
each color they have. You could use a piece of
paper for them to put them on, divided into
sections for each color. Enter the number for each
group as they complete their counts.
Example data:
Group 1 R=3, Br=18, Y=6, G=10, Bl = 2
Training materials created by Carolyn McCarthy. Permission for duplication for educational purposes
granted, please retain authorship on copies. Publication rights retained.
10
38 Totaling up the rows like magic
Type Total at the top of column G
Click into Cell G2 and double-click on the
AutoSum Greek Symbol on the toolbar.
Result will be a sum of the numbers in that
row.
Look up in the fx formula bar with that cell
selected to see the formula it created.
=SUM(B2:F2)
39 Fill the formula down into the rest of the cells!
With that G2 cell selected, move your mouse over
on top of the lower right corner dark square. Your
cursor will turn into a + sign. Click and keeping
the mouse down, drag down to the bottom of your
data set. Now all your totals are figured.
40 What is the average number of Red M&M’s?
Click in the cell below the last Group’s data at the
bottom of the Red data.
Click on the drop-down arrow right next to the
AutoSum symbol and select Average and click on
Enter.
Notice the formula uses the function AVERAGE
and doesn’t show the math involved.
Try the function: COUNT on the next cell over.
What is the difference?
Probably you will want to fill the Average formula
across all the bottom cells
41 Color your columns to match the colors
Select the data in column B by putting your cursor
in the top cell B1, keeping it selected, drag down
to the bottom of the data in column B
Training materials created by Carolyn McCarthy. Permission for duplication for educational purposes
granted, please retain authorship on copies. Publication rights retained.
11
42 Locate the paint bucket on the toolbar and click on
the arrow to the right of it to pick a color to match
the item.
Do this for each, however you may want to select
lighter colors to keep the text readable.
43 Clearing the averages
Remove the averages and replace them with totals
by selecting the cells, right-click, and select Clear
contents.
Then Total the columns
Notice if you drag the formula across, it will also
drag the color that was in that cell (this isn’t a
problem for our next step, but you might want to
double-click on the AutoSum at the bottom of each
instead). Remember you can always UNDO what
you just did (Ctrl-Z is the shortcut).
44 Graphing the Color Set Totals
Click and highlight the color names to select them.
45 To select non-contiguous sets of data:
Color removed for viewability
Hold down the Control key and select the totals at
the bottom.
Wherever you start with your cursor will look
white when you select cells.
Training materials created by Carolyn McCarthy. Permission for duplication for educational purposes
granted, please retain authorship on copies. Publication rights retained.
12
46 Graphing the data
Click on the chart wizard
Press and hold where it tells you to.
You can try this with different chart types.
Try a 3-D pie graph with slices pulled out from the
center.
The colors won’t match your M&M colors until
we edit the graph later.
Click on Column for this example.
47 Click on Next> and Next>
Give the chart a title: M&M Bag Colors
48 Turn off the Legend
Click on the Legend tab and uncheck the box
49 Click on Next>
Select: As new sheet and type in M&M and click
on Finish
Plot area
Data Series
Training materials created by Carolyn McCarthy. Permission for duplication for educational purposes
granted, please retain authorship on copies. Publication rights retained.
13
50 Change the color of the bars to match the color:
Click on an individual bar TWICE – so only it is
selected. Notice the small squares on the corners
and side surrounding the bar when it is selected.
51 Click on the arrow next to the paint bucket on the
toolbar and select a color that matches the name.
Do this for all the rest. Remember to have ONLY
that bar selected when you do it.
52 Format the background
To change the appearance of the background,
right-click on the background and select
Format plot area
Then click on Fill Effects
53 Try out some of the neat color effects, or click on
the Texture tab and select a neat texture. Click OK
twice and it’s done.
Training materials created by Carolyn McCarthy. Permission for duplication for educational purposes
granted, please retain authorship on copies. Publication rights retained.
14