Creating the M&M Spreadsheet

(lab activity directions)

  1. Log onto a computer.
  2. Go to Start>All Programs> and choose Microsoft Excel.
  3. Go to View>Header and Footer> and click on Custom Header. Then type your name, class, and date in the right section. Click on OK and OK.
  4. Now click in cell A1 and type Color of M&M’s . Either click Tab or click in cell B1 to go to the next cell. In cell B1 type Number of M&M’s. In cell C1 type Fraction. In cell D1 type Reduced then hold down the alt key as you click on Enter then continue typing Fraction. (This forces the text to go to a second line.) Continue with cells E1 and G1.
  5. Click in cell A2 and type Brown. To go to cell A3, either click Enter or take the mouse and click in A3. Continue with the other colors.
  6. Click on Row heading 1 by clicking on the 1. This selects the whole row. Now click on the center tool from the formatting toolbar. Click on the bold tool from the formatting toolbar.
  1. Click on the A from column heading A and center that text as well.
  2. Type the values of each color and total in column B under the heading Number of M&M’s.
  3. Click in cell C2 and drag the mouse down to C7 so as to highlight those cells. Click on Format>Cells>Type>Text and then OK. Type the fractions in column C under the heading Fraction. Ex: 2/16, 5/16
  4. Click in cell D2 and drag the mouse down to D8 so as to highlight those cells. Click on Format>Cells>Number>Fraction>up to 2 digits then click on OK.Now click on cell D2. Type = (this lets the computer know it is about to calculate something) and type B2/B8. ex: =B2/B8. In cell D3, type =B3/B8. Continue down the column. The computer should put the fraction in lowest terms.
  5. Click in cell E2 and drag down to E8. Click on Format>Cells>Number>Number>choose 3 decimal places then click on OK. Click in cell E2 and type =B3/B8. Continue with the column as in step 10.
  6. Click in cell F2 and drag down to F8. Click on Format>Cells>Number>Percentage> two decimal places then click on OK. Again, click in cell F2 and type =B3/B8. Continue with column F as in previous steps.

To continue with the other bags, click in cell A10 and type Bag #2. Click in cell A11 and repeat steps 4-12 above. Click in cell A20 and type Bag #3 and repeat steps 4-12 above.

Now for graphing.

1. Highlight only the information you want in the graph. Do not highlight any empty rows, columns, or unneeded information. To highlight the categories, click in one cell and drag the mouse to the end of that information. Now, hold the ctrl key down as you highlight the other values.

2.

Ronnie Yeatts, CTS Crownover