Graphs and Spreadsheets
Updated: July 6, 2004
What's in this Lesson:
Lesson Overview
Teacher Technology Tutorials
Teacher Guide (including How to Begin)
Resources
Lesson Overview
Curriculum Connections: Mathematics, Science
Standards Connections: International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards
| • | National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS): | • | I.A: Teachers demonstrate introductory knowledge, skills, and understanding of concepts related to technology. | | • | II.A: Teachers design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners. | | • | III.A: Teachers facilitate technology-enhanced experiences that address content standards and student technology standards. |
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| • | National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS): | • | Grades 3-5 NETS Performance Indicator 5: Use technology tools (for example, multimedia authoring, presentation, Web tools, digital cameras, and scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. | | • | Grades 6-8 NETS Performance Indicator 5: Apply productivity/multimedia tools and peripherals to support personal productivity, group collaboration, and learning throughout the curriculum. | | • | Grades 9-12 Performance Indicator 8: Select and apply technology tools for research, information analysis, problem solving, and decision making in content learning. |
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Required Software: Microsoft Excel
Teacher Technology Tutorials
Teacher Guide
Summary:
Overarching Question: How is data effectively shared through use of charts and graphs?
Today's spreadsheets provide students with a dynamic structure for numerical analysis; they offer a framework for complex calculations and the ability to seamlessly represent results through charts, tables, or graphs. These tutorials are designed to introduce this technology in a range of lessons that use common classroom curriculum or data found in print and Internet sources.
Objectives:
| • | Knowledge | • | Students will gain knowledge of ways to collect data. | | • | Students will gain appreciation for the possibilities of using charts and graphs to better communicate the findings or meaning of data. |
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| • | Skills | • | Students will develop skills in creating a spreadsheet. | | • | Students will develop skills in creating and formatting charts and graphs to detail important information. |
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Prerequisite Skills:
| • | Familiarity with word processing and copying and pasting of text and images |
| • | Ability to find and save information and images from Encarta or Internet |
| • | Comfort with saving files to shared folder on computer or network |
Time Allotted:
| • | Preparing the project (1-2 class periods) |
| • | Creating the project (1 class period) |
| • | Finalizing the project (1 class period) |
| • | Presenting and reflecting (1-2 class periods) |
How to Begin:
1. | Preparing the Project (1-2 class periods) | • | Decide on a concept, word bank, or other idea that aligns with your curriculum. | | • | Decide on an assessment of the project and create a rubric. | | • | Demonstrate a sample digital worksheet in Excel and share how tools within Excel will be used to create final product. | | • | Teams research to find an image to use with their assignment. Images should be gathered and saved in a shared folder. Student-created images should be encouraged (maps, icons, charts, and other image forms). These should be digitized and saved in the images folder for later use. |
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2. | Creating the Project (1 class period) | • | Teams use key words or terms and draft their word bank in Excel. | | • | Teams copy and paste or insert images into a worksheet. | | • | Teams add functionality to their image by linking cells to specific image areas using connectors or lines. | | • | Students enter a formula that will provide an interactive element for users. |
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3. | Finalizing the Project (1-2 class periods) | • | Upon final review by team and teacher, projects are prepared for class viewing. | | • | Projects can be placed in a common folder or worksheets inserted into one master Excel document for student use and practice. | | • | Teams can present their digital worksheets to the class. |
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4. | Assessments | • | Checking for Understanding | • | What is the purpose of a spreadsheet? | | • | How did you select a format for communicating your results? | | • | Does charting or graphing results make it easier to compare information? |
| | • | Project rubrics are an essential evaluation tool. Ideally rubrics are available to students at the start of a project and used to evaluate teacher-created projects or other projects so that students can have a context for what is expected. Rubrics should be brought up frequently throughout the project and used as an ongoing evaluation tool for self, peer, and teacher assessment. A good source for rubrics is Rubistar. Visit the Rubistar Web site at http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php. | | • | Student Reflection is a vital element of any assessment. It is important that time be allocated at the end of the project for reflection on processes and products. Some questions you can ask: | • | What are some common types of charts and graphs? | | • | When should you use a chart or graph? | | • | What things should you do when gathering data that help create a good chart or graph? | | • | What did I learn? What did I do well? What would I change? Next time I want to... |
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Teacher Tips
| • | Create a project of your own to use for demonstration then share the process with the class. |
| • | It is also helpful to display student projects from prior years if they are available. |
| • | Align project to your curriculum and state standards and create an assessment rubric for your project. (Visit the Rubistar Web site at http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php for more information.) |
| • | A few days prior to project, talk about the subject area you will be using and assist students in finding locations of images that would be appropriate. |
| • | Help students set up their calendar by "backtracking" from final due date and setting deadlines for the separate project elements. |
| • | Send out a message to parents letting them know of project expectations and due dates. |
| • | Create a series of mini-lessons to address skills and knowledge needed to complete the project. |
| • | Allow time to meet with individual teams to assess progress and assist in problem solving. Make this an assessment time by checking off and scoring completed elements. |
| • | Be sure to plan for differentiation or modification as needed for your diverse group of learners. |
| • | You can use the comment feature in Excel as a place for students to provide more information or to give the user a hint to the correct answer. |
Grade Level Ideas
For Elementary Students
| • | Create a line graph showing results of your timed math tests, Accelerated Reader tests, or other test scores. |
| • | Create a bar graph showing pages you read in each month of the school year. |
| • | Survey classmates to determine their favorite school activity (recess, lunch, music, etc.) and represent the data on a pie chart. |
| • | Find data on your favorite sports team or athlete and then graph the yearly performance over the last five years. |
For Middle School Students
| • | Create a graph showing population changes of a certain city or area over time. |
| • | Survey classmates to find out how many hours of homework they do each night. Display the results as bar graph or pie chart. |
| • | In a science lab create a spreadsheet to track data on your experiment and then create a graph that best details your findings in relation to your hypothesis |
For High School Students:
| • | Analyze and graph trends in voter turnout in your state, noting the cause and effect of reapportionment and redistricting. |
| • | Create a profit and loss spreadsheet for a small business. |
| • | Research and graph the value of the United States dollar relative to other currencies in the past year. |
Resources
National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T)
This Web site provides technology standards and information about technology integration.
Enchanted Learning
Provides labeling activity worksheets and print outs.
Microsoft Encarta Reference Library
Offers photographs, historical timelines, graphics, and text on virtually any subject.
