Excel Lab
· Lab #1 (Week 2, 2 hours) – Introduction to data management and graphing with Excel
o Students will be given four data sets, three of which are best suited to only one of pie, bar, and line graphs, with the fourth being more ambiguous
o Work will be done individually (or possibly in pairs)
o Tasks:
§ Learn to navigate around a spreadsheet, select cells, copy/paste, format cells, and use the chart wizard to create graphs
§ Create organized, clearly labeled tables of the data, possibly including borders
§ Create appropriate, clearly labeled graphs of the data
§ Describe in writing patterns revealed in a data table and in a graph
· Lab #2 (Week , 1 hour) – Using formulas in Excel
o Tasks:
§ Use cell references and simple formulas to rapidly construct data tables
§ Learn to translate complicated formulas into “Excel notation”
§ Use previous skills to explore the behavior of different formulas through graphs and data tables
o Examine pros/cons of calculators vs. Excel??
· Lab #3 (Week , 1-2 hours) – Statistical analysis with Excel
o Students will complete a demographic survey, then be given the resulting data, along with some time-series data
o Tasks:
§ Use built-in statistical functions to find the mean and 5# summary
§ Use Excel to calculate and represent relevant percentage information
§ Perform linear regression on data sets to seek correlations and make projections
§ Use writing to interpret the data and graphs that arise during the students’ investigations
· Lab #4 (Week , 1-2 hours) – Measures of change, Importing spreadsheets into a document
o Tasks:
§ Investigate patterns in measures of change: numeric, percent, and rates
§ Practice creating a short essay including a data table or graph and an appropriate explanation of same!
· Lab #5 (Week , 1 hour) – Solving systems of equations in two variables
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· Lab #6 (Week , 1 hour) – Investigating linear, quadratic, and exponential behavior
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· Lab #7 (Week , 1 hour) – Investigating functional relationships
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