Introduction to Spreadsheets

Software

Icons key: For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation

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 Learning objectives

Understand the advantages of using

spreadsheets.
Understand the basic formatting functions that
can be used with spreadsheets.
Know how to use basic functions and the
advantages of displaying data in charts.

Icons key: For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation

Flash activity. These activities are not editable. Teacher’s notes included in the Notes Page
Web addresses

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Why use spreadsheets?

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What does the software do?

Spreadsheets can:

do all sorts of calculations, both simple and complex,

using formulae
recalculate things quickly when the numbers change
use functions to help you set up complex formulae
act as simple databases so that you can sort or search
your data
plot charts and graphs
change the appearance of fonts, cell backgrounds
and borders
control how many decimal places are shown.

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Basic features

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Tracking marks – on paper

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Tracking marks – on computer

The teacher makes a table of names and assignments.

What formatting
changes could you
make to this table so
that the information is
better presented?

Labels Bold font Merged cells Shaded

backgrounds

Centred
text

Cell Borders Table border

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Tracking marks

The teacher enters the marks, leaving a blank cell if the

student was absent, but putting a 0 if the student did not
hand in their work.

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Using and replicating formulae

The teacher can use a formula to work out the average

mark for each student…

and then replicate it for the other students.

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Using a function

But there’s a problem – can you see what it is?

Bethany was absent for one assignment, so her results

need to be divided by 4 not 5. The Average function does
this automatically.

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What else can it do?

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What else can it do?

Functions can help the user to:

look up data from lists
do specialized calculations in subjects like finance,
statistics and trigonometry
experiment with questions, such as “What if the interest
rate went up by 1%?”
use logic such as IF, AND and OR
change the format of a cell depending on what is in it
(conditional formatting)
use pivot tables to summarize data
reduce the number of input errors by setting rules
(validation).

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Nail that function

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Revise those functions

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Limitations of tables

If we look at the data in a table, it’s quite hard to understand

exactly what is happening.

The average tells us who is generally getting the best marks,

but not who is getting better or worse.

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Using charts

Charts give us a picture of our data, and that can help us to

see patterns.

This chart shows us that Michael is quite consistent (he

usually gets about the same mark), and Danny was
improving until his last test.

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Choosing the right chart

It is very important to choose the right type of chart if we want

to see the patterns in the data clearly.

The second chart is plotted from the same data, but doesn’t
tell us very much about what is happening.

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Label the chart

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Choosing the right chart

We don’t always have to show all the information. If we

choose only what we want to show, the patterns we see
should become clearer.

This… is clearer than this

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Who would use it?

Spreadsheets are used by:

engineers to test whether structures
are strong enough

business managers to model their

finances

scientists to simulate what might

happen in different circumstances

teachers to calculate marks and grades.

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Summary

Spreadsheet software is mostly used for simple and

complex calculations using formulae.
Spreadsheets are also very useful for plotting charts.
They can be used to sort and search data.
Functions make it easier to set up complicated
calculations.
Spreadsheet simulations can model situations so
that you can ask “What if” questions.

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