Tutorial Software Skills Builder
Using a Spreadsheet to Conduct a Classroom Survey
In this activity, you will create a spreadsheet to chart the results of a classroom survey regarding students’ favorite pets. Follow the directions below to complete the project.
1. First, conduct a survey about your students’ favorite pets.
2. Record the results to be used in the spreadsheet.
3. Start your spreadsheet software.
4. Type in the survey numbers in separate cells in row 1.
5. It will look similar to the information shown below:
6. Select to enter a 3D chart.
7. Make sure that the information you want inserted into the chart is selected as shown below:
8. Click on the chart box and select “finish.”
9. Click directly on the graph and when the blank text box appears, type in the name of the first pet type, and then drag the name under the corresponding column.
10. Repeat this step until you are finished naming all pets.
11. Insert graphics to pictorially represent each pet.
12. Insert a title in 14-point Arial font. Highlight it and select the bold option.
13. Save your spreadsheet under a file name that will be easy to remember.
14. You are now ready to print your project.
Below is a sample of a finished spreadsheet project.
Extension Activity
Spreadsheets can be used for many things. Having just completed a spreadsheet for a classroom survey, you are now ready to create a lesson that involves both parents and students in an at-home activity. You will use a spreadsheet to chart the results from the parents and students. Prepare a lesson to send home to parents in which parents and students will chart their TV viewing time and how many books they read during a two-week period. Once the information is gathered and brought back to school, chart how TV viewing time relates to the number of books students read, and discuss the outcome with students. Write up your lesson plan and create an example of how your spreadsheet might look.