Full file at

Challenge Questions

  1. What information will you need before starting an Excel Project?

Answers: Students answers will vary depending on their needs and perceptions at this point of what Excel can do.

Performance Element / Level 3: Above Expectations / Level 2: Acceptable / Level 1: Unacceptable / Score
Identify goals of project / Understand the importance of establishing goals and make that a priority / Able to identify that goals should be set / Unable to establish goals
What information will be needed? / Identify how to put information in a logical sequence / Able to identify the types of information but not able to put in a sequence / Unable to identify what types of information will be used
Identify any formulas or computations that will be needed / Identify necessary computations and functions that will make information useful / Identify minimal computations that will be needed / Unable to identify any computations or functions that will be needed
  1. You are evaluating a long-term project for building several retail stores. The project will start on March 20 of this year and will take 35 months before the stores will be open for business. The months of January through April are very slow business periods. Historical sales suggest that it is best to open stores in May or August. Given the start date and the 35-month duration, are the stores opening at a good time? Using the skills in this chapter, how can you use Excel to help answer this question?

Answers: Students answers will vary but should include information about creating formulas to calculate the time that the store will open. Students also should find some comparison to determine if the time is in the range from January to April.

Performance Element / Level 3: Above Expectations / Level 2: Acceptable / Level 1: Unacceptable / Score
Determine how to set up a spreadsheet to calculate the time / Create the spreadsheet to calculate the dates / Create a spreadsheet that has information but doesn’t calculate the dates / Unable to create the spreadsheet
Use Excel to compare the dates / Identify how to create comparisons in Excel / Identify that comparisons can be made but unsure how to create them / Unable to identify ways to make comparison
Format the spreadsheet in an appropriate way / Format the spreadsheet so that information is easily readable and looks appropriate / Format the spreadsheet using some of the skills but spreadsheet doesn’t look professional / Unable to add formatting to the spreadsheet
  1. Open the file named ib_e02_purchasingmaagerdata. This file needs to be formatted and adjusted for the purchasing manager of a sports equipment store who is responsible for accessing the current unit inventory for each item and the weeks of supply for each item. From this information, the manager will determine which items need to be purchased or which items should be returned to the manufacturer. The purchasing manager will make this decision based on the weeks of supply data. Any item with a weeks of supply less than 4 will be purchased. Any item with a weeks of supply greater than 20 will be returned to the manufacturer. Use the skills covered in this chapter to format the spreadsheet based on the needs of this purchasing manager.

Answers:

Wrap column headings

Widen columns

Consistent decimal places

Add comma style

Correct use of dollar signs

Sort columns

Add color

Performance Element / Level 3: Above Expectations / Level 2: Acceptable / Level 1: Unacceptable / Score
Make columns an appropriate width / Make all columns an appropriate width / Widened the columns that had ### in them / Unable to make columns appropriate width
Wrap column headings and add color / Wrap headings and add formatting / Able to apply formatting to the headings, but not wrap them / Unable to wrap headings or apply formatting
Apply consistent decimal and numeric formatting including commas and decimals / Applied formatting to make numeric data appropriate using comma style, dollar signs and decimals / Applied partial formatting to the numeric data / Unable to format the numeric data
Sort data to make put it in a logical sequence / Applied primary and secondary sorts / Applied primary sorts / Did not sort data
Apply consistent decimal and numeric formatting including commas and decimals / Applied formatting to make numeric data appropriate using comma style, dollar signs and decimals / Applied partial formatting to the numeric data / Unable to format the numeric data
  1. Open the file named ib_d02_furniturefiasco. How many mistakes can you find in this spreadsheet? Make a copy of the spreadsheet and correct as many mistakes as you can. If you cannot correct a mistake, explain why.

Answers:Widen columns

Wrap column headings

Use consistency in dollar signs

Use consistency in decimals

Office department numbers are not the same

Sales unit should not be dollar amounts

Performance Element / Level 3: Above Expectations / Level 2: Acceptable / Level 1: Unacceptable / Score
Make columns an appropriate width / Make all columns an appropriate width / Widened the columns that had ### in them / Unable to make columns appropriate width
Wrap column headings and add color / Wrap headings and add formatting / Able to apply formatting to the headings, but not wrap them / Unable to wrap headings or apply formatting
Apply consistent decimal and numeric formatting including commas and decimals / Applied formatting to make numeric data appropriate using comma style, dollar signs and decimals / Applied partial formatting to the numeric data / Unable to format the numeric data
Sort data to make put it in a logical sequence / Applied primary and secondary sorts / Applied primary sorts / Did not sort data
  1. Open the file named ib_e02_merchandisedataforpresentation. Look at this spreadsheet carefully. Would you be comfortable presenting this information for a class project or the executive manager of a company? Why or Why not?

Answers: Not all of the calculations are correct. Instead of typing in numbers in Total Sales Dollars and Ending Inventory, those should use formulas to make sure the information is correct. It is always good to sort the data using a primary and secondary sort in this case. Formatting looks good. The document is easy to read and attractive.

Performance Element / Level 3: Above Expectations / Level 2: Acceptable / Level 1: Unacceptable / Score
Use formulas instead of typing in the numbers / Identify columns that should have formulas / Identify that formulas are good but unsure which columns to use / Unaware that formulas would make data more accurate
Sort data to make put it in a logical sequence / Applied primary and secondary sorts / Applied primary sorts / Did not sort data
Apply consistent decimal and numeric formatting including commas and decimals / Applied formatting to make numeric data appropriate using comma style, dollar signs and decimals / Applied partial formatting to the numeric data / Unable to format the numeric data