This week you’re flying high on the Sky Tower to celebrate the completion of an entire spreadsheet unit. Pat yourself on the back. That’s not all. For five weeks now, you have worked with a huge variety of primary source materials and will complete your final set of lessons today when you take the TechKnow Time Warp. This is quite an accomplishment! (Hey, don’t forget to print your TechKnow Time Warp Passport.)
For your last adventure with spreadsheets, you will learn how to prepare a graph or chart from selected data that has been entered on a spreadsheet. Charts and graphs help you visualize or picture spreadsheet data in the form of a "number picture." Creating charts and graphs is a fun and easy way to make sense out of a confusing jumble of numbers. Are you ready for some number crunching?
Spreadsheet and Graphing Activities
Let’s get started by examining a bar graph created by Josh comparing the cost of his 3 favorite shopping items purchased on the imaginary $1,000.00 shopping spree in TechKnow Park Weeks 16 & 17. Doesn’t it help you see very quickly which toy is the most expensive and the least expensive?
It’s your turn to make a bar graph. Think of a question you would like to ask your classmates (need help?). Ask 5 different classmates your question, and then enter your data on the graphing tool provided by the site below. Look at the graph created by Allison after she asked 5 friends how many chews it took before they could swallow a Tootsie Roll.
Link to CREATE A GRAPH on NCES’s Web site. Select Bar Graph from the pull down menu labeled "Select Type of Graph" and click GO! Follow the instructions and print your very own colorful 3-D bar graph today!
Link to www.your-nation.com to view instant graphs of amazing data that "lets you discover just how different the world is." Here's what to do when you get there:
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Click on the COMPARE button located on the left.
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At the TOP of the window, select NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT from the pull-down menu beside the word "compare." Select SOUTH AMERICAN CONTINENT from the pull-down menu beside the word "with."
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Select TELEPHONES from the pull-down menu beside the word, "compare on."
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Click on the GENERATE button to view an animated graph comparing the total number of telephones in both continents. (Make a guess before you link.)
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Notice the "source" of the data: the CIA World Factbook '98.
With most spreadsheet tools, preparing a graph or chart from spreadsheet data usually involves 3 important steps:
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Enter, then highlight the data in your spreadsheet.
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Select a menu option that allows you to MAKE A CHART or GRAPH.
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Choose the most appropriate graph or chart from a gallery of options, then dress it up with a title, different colors, labels, fonts, styles, and sizes.
Visit the Math Forum and, with the help of your teacher, look for these 3 steps in their sample instructions. See how quick and easy it can be to make bar graphs, pie charts, pictograms and other graphs from spreadsheet data. Which class period has the highest number of students?
Here is another graphing challenge. A group of students decided to conduct a poll of their friends’ favorite sports. They entered the data on a spreadsheet and made a bar graph. Link to The Franklin Institute Online and look for their spreadsheet and colorful bar graph. Don’t bother to read the paragraphs. Instead, study the graphics and see if you can answer the following questions.
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You like to play Squash, too! Whose class is the squash player in?
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What is the most favorite sport and the least favorite sport?
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What question can you create that would have "Hockey" for the answer?
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Whose class likes tennis the least?
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Do more kids like tennis and baseball or hockey and basketball?
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Would you choose a different graph? Would a pie chart work for this information? Why or why not?
Connect to the TechKnow Time Warp and choose from one of the following missions. When the Time Machine appears, roll your cursor over the appropriate beam of light to reveal the Secret Time Travel Mission, then click on the light to begin the adventure. Let’s go!
Mission 5 (Orange Light) allows you to view actual artifacts used by early settlers of the English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. Don’t overlook the "ear picker/ toothpick" gadget! You can view and rotate larger images of the thumbnails by clicking on the blue links showing underneath the paragraphs. Hey, while you’re there, check out the skeleton they unearthed. Learn more about the .60 caliber ball lodged beneath the right knee and read about the mystery surrounding the death of this individual.
Mission 6 (Purple Light) will let you read someone’s diary, crack open journals, and read letters written by pioneers who made the long, hard journey to the West in search of fortune.
Mission 7 (Pink Light) will have you exploring the concept of time travel, playing sports, and listening to music. Travel through time at warp speeds as you crack open the contents of your time capsule.
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