Spreadsheets (Excel)
Spreadsheets have three
main features:
- the row and column format makes them ideal for storing and sorting many
types of information, and allows the spreadsheet to work as a database or to
export easily to a true database application such as Microsoft Access
- excellent for repetitive calculations
- ideal for creating graphs and charts
Worksheet XL1: Create a worksheet,
add a formula and
generate a chart.
In this worksheet you will learn how to:
 | Identify cells and ranges |
| Adjust column widths |
| Copy down a column |
| Use the Autosum function |
| Create a 3-dimensional histogram |
| Control the titles, legend, axes, and size of the histogram |
Click
 to see the Flash animation for this exercise. You can pause the
animation at any time and click the progress bar to jump to any point in
the movie (reviewing the last few seconds, for example).
To exit the animation, click the BACK button on your browser to return
to this page.
Worksheet XL2: Modify the previous
worksheet, adding more data, formulas and
a new chart.
In this worksheet you will learn how to:
| Manually enter formulas |
| Copy down a column and across a row |
| Adjust column widths |
| Simultaneously select data ranges that are not
contiguous |
| Create a 3-dimensional histogram |
| Control the titles, legend, axes, and size of the histogram |
Click
to see the Flash animation for this exercise.
Worksheet XL3: Scientific Graphing with Excel.
In this exercise you will be provided with data on an experiment to measure
the electrical properties of different devices. You will plot suitable graphs
(scatter graphs) and, where appropriate, will add a linear trendline to test the
data for linearity. From the table below, choose an 'in school' link if you are
connecting from within the European School 3 Brussels (and therefore have access
to the school network), otherwise connect via the Internet. Choose 'web page'
for a standard view and 'SWF file' if you plan to run the animation in a small
window while you work in a different window (the animation will be resized for
the SWF file but only cropped for the web page). If you want to keep the small
window always visible then install and run
AlwayOnTopMaker.
Disponible aussi en français!
Worksheet XL4: Integration of Word and Excel.
Going beyond 'copy and paste' by using object linking and embedding (OLE)
In this exercise, the students create a
simple Excel spreadsheet, chart the data and then copy and paste both the
data and the chart into a Word document so that it resembles the given
photocopy. The students paste in three different ways:
-
as an image
(straightforward copy / Paste)
-
as a linked Excel object
(see below)
-
as an embedded Excel object
(see below)
Pasting linked or embedded objects is
achieved using a Microsoft technology called OLE (Object Linking and
Embedding - see below.
Since students have previously created a table in
a Word document, they should be able to
appreciate that the spreadsheet table is far more powerful than the simple
Word table.
Notes on OLE
OLE stands for Object Linking and Embedding. This technology allows
applications to incorporate some of the functionality of other applications e.g.
MS Word can use charts created in MS Excel.
Object Linking
When a linked object such as an Excel chart is inserted into a Word
document, only the link is truly present and thus the original Excel file must
remain accessible to the Word document. When the object is opened for editing
the original Excel file opens within MS Excel.
Object Embedding
An embedded object such as a chart is a copy of the original chart as
created in MS Excel. Thus the original chart, along with its data, can be
discarded. When the embedded object is opened for editing Excel spawns an editor
which has some but not all of the functionality of the full Excel application. |
|
|
