Spreadsheet+Lessons

=Using Spreadsheets in the Classroom =

Spreadsheets allow users to organize and manipulate data. They often contain formulas that allow the user to change numbers and quickly see the results. Because of this, spreadsheets are most commonly used in business education, mathematics, and science classes.

The examples below provide an idea of how spreadsheets can be used in a middle school mathematics classroom.

Four Example Lessons
How Much Tax Would You Pay? This lesson uses an Excel spreadsheet to show how taxes affect a household's income. Students start out with a $50,000 income and then pay taxes including federal and state income tax, Social Security, and then what portion of their income would go to sales and property taxes. This is very applicable for all students and sure to be an eye-opener.

Mystery Functions Students are given a spreadsheet that has 20 different formulas for them to discover. Students try to figure out the formulas by entering several different numbers in the "Input" cell and then look at what they get in the "Result" box each time. They attempt to find numeric patterns which will help them determine what the formula is. Younger students can just look for the patterns while older kids could extend the concepts to variables and algebraic expressions.

Intercepts from an Equation? This lesson helps students determine how to find the x and y intercepts of the graph of a function. Students manipulate the m and b values of the y=mx+b equation and can see the resulting ordered pairs as well as x and y intercepts.

Exploring Mean, Median, and Mode with a Spreadsheet In this lesson an exchange student is coming over but would like to know what an "average" American student is like. Students come up with a list of attributes and then do their data gathering. The information is inputted into the spreadsheet where formulas are used to collect the different measures of central tendency.

Scatter Plots Lesson
**Description of Topic**: Scatter plots are used to show how much, if any, effect one variable has on another variable. Scatter plots also often have a line of best fit, or trend line, which is a straight line that best represents the data on the scatter plot. This lesson will have students come up with their own set of data points which will then be graphed with a line of best fit and the equation for the line of best fit using Microsoft Excel.

**Goal(s)**: After completing this activity students will be able to explain the effect that the amounts of data have on the line of best fit as well as what effect an outlier can have on the line of best fit.

**Data Description**: Data will be gathered from the students before the activity begins. Each student will be measured to determine their height and wingspan. This will provide different data sets for each class in addition to looking at the question of whether height and wingspan are related.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Column and Row Headings**: The columns of the datasheet are labeled with the variables being measured. These headings also include the units of measurement being used. A column for the student's names is provided to ensure a students' measurements are used only once.

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