Name June 16 20055 46 PM 1 Making projections A spreadsheet program stores and calculates information in a structured array of data cells By defining relationships between information in cells a user can see the effects of data changes on other data in the spreadsheet see tutorial Spreadsheets are number crunchers and are useful when ever teachers or students need to perform numerous calculations Both students and teachers should be able to perform what if analyses to project budgets grades or other numeric values Analyze the sample family budget and make reasonable recommendations to balance the budget should one of the wage earners lose their job Include a printout of your balanced budget 1 Name June 16 20055 46 PM 2 Graphing and interpreting data One of the most important analytical skills for students is the ability to read and interpret graphs Fortuantely spreadsheet programs can graph data and provide opportunities for analysis and discussion Create two or more different types of graphs chart from spreadsheets related to your discipline Make sure the graph is meaningful and is fully and correctly labeled Copy the graphs into the portoflio Write two or more questions and provide answers for each graph Question What are three states that have a significantly larger population in 1990 Answer California New York and Texas Question What are three pairs of states that had close to the same amount of people Answer Colorado Connecticut Pennsylvania Illinois and Louisiana Alabama 2 Name June 16 20055 46 PM Question Who was the oldest and youngest man to become president Answer Reagan 69 Roosevelt 42 Question What are the average ages of the Presidents from Grant to Wilson Answer 50 818 3 Creating a spreadsheet for your subject Create a new spreadsheet or a new worksheet in an existing spreadsheet file Your worksheet should include a variety of useful calculations based upon cells in your new worksheet and or associated ones in your modified spreadsheet file Include a printout of your new spreadsheet in your portfolio and describe the purpose of your spreadsheet and describe how you would use it in your class 3 Name June 16 20055 46 PM 4 Name June 16 20055 46 PM 5 Name June 16 20055 46 PM If I were to have students learning the benefits of using spreadsheets one of the most important aspects would be how to calculate loan interest This uses many aspects of excel including using formulas extending patterns in cells and will give a student a great perspective on how to understand interest There are many other methods to understand the uses of excel The most practical thing that I use it for is creating lists of students who pay for activities attend events or really any other organizational tool 6