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Graphing M & M’s
Using Excel 2000 |
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Materials:
 | Individual serving bags of M & M’s or similar candy |
 | EXCEL or similar spreadsheet program |
 | Prediction Sheet |
Prior to Lesson
 | Predict the number of the different colors of M & M’s in the bag and the
total number. Record these numbers on a separate sheet or chart. |
Spreadsheet Preparation
- Go to Start, programs, and click Microsoft EXCEL.
- In cell A1, type the word color. Press Tab. In cell B1,
type the word number.
- In cell A2, type the word blue. Press Enter.
- In cell A3, type the word red. Press Enter.
- In cell A4, type the word yellow. Press Enter.
- In cell A5, type the word orange. Press Enter.
- In cell A6, type the word green. Press Enter.
- In cell A7, type the word brown. Press Enter.
- In cell A8, type the word Total. Press Enter.
Counting and Recording Data
- Open the M & M’s, count the blue ones and type the number
in cell B2.
- Count the red ones and type the number in cell B3.
- Count the rest and record your results in column B.
- Highlight cells B2 to B7. Go to the toolbar and click the
AutoSum button. The total number of M & M’s should appear in the column.
Formatting Chart
- Highlight cells in your chart A1 to B8. Right click on
top of the chart.
- Click Format Cells from the pop-up menu.
- Click the Font tab and change to Arial 14.
- Click the border tab and apply a border.
Applying Chart Wizard
- Go to the toolbar and click the chart wizard button.
- Place the insertion marker under the chart and click to
begin the wizard.
- There are four steps. Click Next for Step 1.
- Step 1 shows all the different graphs. The column graph
is highlighted. We will use it.
- Click Next to go to Step 2. We will stick to these
default settings.
- Click Next to go to Step 3. Under the title tab type in
a title such as Colorful M & M’s.
- Type in the word Color for the category of axis x.
- Type in the word Number for the value of axis y.
- Look at the other options under the other tabs for more
information. Check out Show Table Data!
- Click Next to go to step four. Select the default, As
Object in Sheet.
- Click finish. Move the handle bars on the graph to
expand to the desired size.
- Click the magnifying glass to view your work. Click
close.
Formatting the Graph
- Double click on the bar that represents blue to highlight
the bar.
- Click two more times to select that bar only. Handle bars
will appear only on that bar.
- With the bar selected right click and select Format Data
Point.
- Click the color blue and then click OK.
- Click and highlight each individual bar. Then right click
and select Format Data Point to choose colors.
- To format the legend or titles. Click and highlight and
then right click to get the options. Borders can be formatted as well as
text.
Adding a Header or Footer
- Click the magnifying class and then click Setup.
- Go to the Header/Footer tab.
- Click Custom Header and add a title. Ex: Colorful Candy
- Click OK and then select Custom Footer.
- Type your name for the footer and then click OK. Click
close.
- Save and print your chart with graph.
Prediction Sheet
Use the prediction sheet with upper grade
students. Check out this example.
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