L E S S O N 1 Excel basics Suggested teaching time 20-30 minutes Lesson objectives To understand the limitations of paper spreadsheets and to explore the Excel environment, you will: a b c Identify some features and limitations of a paper spreadsheet. Start the Excel program. Identify the features of electronic worksheets in the Excel workbook environment. 1-1
Excel 2000: Worksheets a Concepts > The paper spreadsheet In order to appreciate the Excel software program, it is helpful to understand the limitations of a paper spreadsheet. Working with a paper spreadsheet (or ledger paper) can be complicated and time consuming. Information that changes must be erased and rewritten, causing computations to be incorrect until they are redone. For example, an incorrect entry in a checkbook can throw off a running balance; when the error is found, a significant number of computations may need to be redone to arrive at the current balance. Paper spreadsheets have limited functionality because they are static. Soon you will see that electronic spreadsheets do not have this limitation. A sample paper spreadsheet Personal Budget for the First Quarter Monthly income (Net) ---------> $ 1,475.00 Quarter January February March Totals Rent 600.00 600.00 600.00 $1,800.00 Telephone 48.25 43.50 42.10 $ 133.85 Utilities 67.27 75.92 62.89 $ 206.08 Charge Cards 200.00 110.00 70.00 $ 380.00 Heating Oil 125.52 150.57 50.32 $ 326.41 Auto Insurance 150.00 $ 150.00 Cable TV 30.25 30.25 30.25 $ 90.75 Monthly Totals: $1,221.29 $ 1,010.24 $ 855.56 Balance: $ 253.71 $ 464.76 $ 619.44 Exhibit 1-1: A sample paper spreadsheet. Task A-1: Examining a paper spreadsheet q Objective: To discover some of the features and limitations of a paper spreadsheet. What you do Comments/Prompts 1. Observe Exhibit 1-1 It illustrates a typical paper spreadsheet. 2. Observe the entries in the spreadsheet 3. Observe how the information is arranged The spreadsheet contains text, raw numbers, and numbers that are the result of computations. It is laid out in columns and rows. 1-2
Lesson 1: Excel basics 4. Observe the appearance of the totals The computations in Quarter Totals and Monthly Totals include dollar signs and commas to signify currency. 5. Observe the column widths Some columns are wider than others. 6. Observe the calculated values in the Quarter Totals column and the Monthly Totals and Balance rows at the bottom of the spreadsheet If you change any of the numbers that contribute to these calculated values, the totals will have to be recalculated. This is a limitation of paper spreadsheets. Point out that all Monthly Totals, Quarter Totals, and Balance figures would have to be recalculated if any of the raw values were to change. Then, the wrong calculations would have to be erased, and the corrections would have to be entered in the paper spreadsheet. Practice Task In Exhibit 1-1, cross out the current amount for the January telephone bill and change it to 55. Circle the numbers that must be recalculated because of this change. 1-3
Excel 2000: Worksheets b Concepts > The Excel program Excel is a software application that provides an electronic spreadsheet, or worksheet environment. An Excel file, called a workbook, can contain several worksheets. Excel can be used to manage numbers and calculations. Unlike the paper spreadsheet, you can set up an Excel workbook as a responsive and dynamic work environment; you can create formulas in Excel that automatically update when you change your data. In addition to its worksheet capabilities, Excel offers a number of useful features that enable you to: organize lists of data by sorting, filtering, and summarizing data; plot numeric data in charts; and automate and customize procedures by using macros. Starting Excel To start Excel from the Start menu: 1. Turn on your computer. 2. Click on the Windows Start button to access the Start menu. 3. Choose Programs, Microsoft Excel. (Note: If Excel has been installed in a different location on your computer, choose the appropriate location under Programs.) If you have a shortcut set up for Excel, you can start Excel from the shortcut by double-clicking on the Excel shortcut icon. If you have created a shortcut to Excel on the Windows desktop, simply have students double-click on the shortcut icon to start the program. Otherwise, guide students through the Start menu to Excel s location. Task B-1: Starting Excel Before you begin: Windows and Excel have been installed on your hard disk. The computer has been turned on, and the Windows desktop is displayed. What you do 1. Follow your instructor s directions to locate and start the Excel program 2. If necessary, click on no, and then click on Exit Comments/Prompts To register Office 2000 at a later date. 1-4
Lesson 1: Excel basics c The workbook environment what s new The following new software features are discussed in this topic: Combined Standard and Formatting toolbars Enhanced Help window features Concepts > After starting Excel, you see two windows, one within the other. The outer window is the application window, and the inner window is the workbook window. The workbook environment Control-menu icons Standard toolbar title bar menu bar Formatting toolbar formula bar active cell sheet tabs horizontal scroll bar vertical scroll bar status bar tab scrolling buttons taskbar Figure 1-1: The workbook environment. The Excel application window The application window provides the space for workbooks and other Excel windows (such as charts). The components of the application window are: Title bar: the bar across the top of the window. The title bar contains the Control-menu icon; the program and workbook names; and the Minimize, Restore (or Maximize), and Close buttons. Menu bar: the area directly beneath the title bar. It displays the names of the drop-down menus for the current application. These menu names change, depending on the type of Excel window that is active, such as a workbook or chart. To the right of the menu you will find the document s Minimize, Restore (or Maximize), and Close buttons. 1-5
Excel 2000: Worksheets Toolbars: the area below the menu bar. Excel initially displays two toolbars arranged in a single row: the Standard toolbar, which is on the left, and the Formatting toolbar, which is on the right. Other toolbars are automatically displayed when you are working with other Excel features, such as charting and drawing. Formula bar: the area below the Formatting toolbar. It displays the contents of the active cell in a workbook. Status bar: beneath the workbook. It displays information about a selected command and about Excel s current state. The status bar also contains the AutoCalculate feature, which provides quick information about workbook data. Taskbar: at the very bottom of the screen. The taskbar appears in all Windows 95 applications. From the taskbar you can access the Windows Start menu and other open documents and folders. The Excel workbook window When maximized, the Excel workbook window blends in with the application window. The workbook window displays the workbook an Excel file in which you work and store your data. A workbook can contain many sheets. You can also have different types of sheets in a workbook. The components of the workbook window are the workbook itself, scroll bars, sheet tabs, and tab scrolling buttons. Workbook: The default Excel workbook contains 3 worksheets named Sheet1 through Sheet3. The sheet names appear on tabs at the bottom of the workbook. A new Excel workbook file can contain up to 255 separate worksheets. The Excel worksheet is a grid of 256 columns by 65,536 rows. Columns are designated by letters running across the top of the worksheet, and rows are designated by numbers running down the left border of the worksheet. Column headings begin with the letter A and continue through the letter Z. After the 26th column (column Z), headings become double letters, from AA to IV. Row headings begin with the number 1 and continue through the number 65536. Cells: the intersection of a column and a row. Cells are typically referred to by their column and row location. For instance, column A, row 1, is cell A1. You enter data (text or numbers) directly into any cell that is active. The active cell is distinguished by a thick, dark border. Scroll bars: to the right of and below the worksheet grid. Use the scroll bars to display different areas of the active worksheet. Sheet tabs: at the bottom of the workbook. You can click on the sheet tabs to move from one sheet to another in a workbook. Tab scrolling buttons: to the left of the sheet tabs. You can click on the tab scrolling buttons to scroll the display of sheet tabs one at a time, or to display the first or last grouping of sheet tabs within a workbook. 1-6
Lesson 1: Excel basics Task C-1: Identifying the features of a workbook What you do Comments/Prompts 1. Observe the workbook and its tabbed worksheets 2. Refer to Figure 1-1 and observe the top portion of the screen 3. Observe the scroll bars and taskbar It is like a stack of paper spreadsheets. The tabs enable you to move from one worksheet to another. There are 3 sheets in a workbook, and you can add more to have as many as 255 sheets in a single workbook. It contains the Excel title bar, the menu bar, the two toolbars arranged in single row, and the formula bar. Located at the right side and bottom of the worksheet, the scroll bars enable you to move through a large worksheet. The taskbar at the very bottom of your screen enables you to access other Windows applications and folders. 4. Observe the status bar Located between the workbook and the taskbar, the status bar displays information about activities on the computer. It displays the current operating mode ( Ready when you start Excel), along with other information, such as the status of your Num Lock and Caps Lock keys. 5. Observe the column headings Located at the top of the worksheet, column headings label the columns with the letters A to IV. A column extends down through all of the rows. 6. Observe the row headings Located on the left side of the worksheet, row headings number the rows from 1 to 65536 and extend through all of the columns. 7. Observe a cell A cell is the intersection of a column and a row. Cells are named by their column and row locations; for example, A1, C12, or IV65536. 8. Observe the active cell The active cell is surrounded by a bold border. When a new worksheet is created, the active cell is cell A1. 9. Observe the cell reference area in the formula bar On the far-left side of the formula bar, the reference area identifies the current or active cell. Concepts > Toolbar buttons Toolbar buttons provide shortcuts for accomplishing many Excel tasks. By pointing to a button with the mouse pointer, you can display a pop-up text box, called a ScreenTip, containing the button s name. To use a button, click on it. 1-7
Excel 2000: Worksheets The Office Assistant There are a number of ways to get online Help in Excel: through the Microsoft Excel Help button on the Standard toolbar, by pressing F1, through the Help menu, by clicking on Help buttons in dialog boxes, and through the Office Assistant. Of these possibilities, those that provide you with context-sensitive Help which is sometimes referred to as Help as you need it are the F1 key; the Help, What s This? menu command; Help buttons in dialog boxes; and the Office Assistant. The other possibilities give you access to general Help. Bear in mind that when you use the F1 key; choose Help, Microsoft Excel Help; or click on the Microsoft Excel Help button, you are merely running the Office Assistant. (Another way to achieve the same result is to choose Help, Show The Office Assistant.) The Office Assistant runs by default each time you start the Excel program, and is displayed in the lower-right corner of the screen. The Office Assistant is ready for your input when its comic-strip style speech balloon is displayed. (To display it or hide it, click on the Office Assistant.) To use the Office Assistant you can scroll through its available questions and click on the one that seems most appropriate to your need. Or you can type a question in the text box provided, and then click on Search (or press Enter) to find an answer to your question (or display other questions that you hope will lead you to the answer that you seek). You can use the Options button to display a dialog box full of options directly related to the Office Assistant itself. For example, use this dialog box to prevent the Office Assistant from running each time you run Excel. When the Help system displays information on a topic, the Help window and the Excel window are tiled horizontally. This enables you to move easily between windows as you work. At the same time, the Office Assistant remains displayed, enabling you to further refine your search. To close the Help window, click on its Close button. Which buttons are displayed on the Formatting and Standard toolbars and which are displayed on the docked toolbars may differ from computer to computer. Inform students that if they do not see the button they are looking for on the Formatting or Standard toolbars, the button will be located on the docked toolbars. Task C-2: Identifying toolbar buttons and the Office Assistant What you do 1. Observe the toolbars, arranged in a single row near the top of your screen 2. On the Standard toolbar, point to the first button on the left Comments/Prompts The Standard and Formatting toolbars provide shortcuts for common Excel tasks. 3. Observe the ScreenTip When you point to a button and pause, its name appears in a pop-up text box. The first button on the Standard toolbar is the New button. With so many buttons available, ScreenTips provide helpful reminders about the function of each button. 1-8
Lesson 1: Excel basics If students are starting Excel for the first time after it was installed, they must select the Start Using Microsoft Excel option in order to use Excel. This is necessary only the first time Excel is run. Mention to students that to move between windows, they need only click in the window that they want to activate. If the Office Assistant is not displayed, students can display it by choosing Help, Show The Office Assistant or by pressing 1. 4. If the Office Assistant window is displayed, observe it Click on the Office Assistant In the text box, type toolbars Click on Search Click on See More 5. Click on About Menus and Toolbars In the Microsoft Excel Help window, click on any topic 6. Click on the Microsoft Excel Help window Close button If necessary, close the Office Assistant window 7. Choose _Help Hide_The_Office_Assistant_ Practice Task 1. Point to other buttons and observe their ScreenTips. 2. Use Excel s Help system to find information on any topic you choose. 3. When you are finished using Help, close the Microsoft Excel Help window, and if the Office Assistant is displayed, hide it from view. (If you are running Excel for the first time since installing the program, the Office Assistant will be running.) The Office Assistant window is used to display helpful information. Click on the Office Assistant to hide or display its contents. You can type key words, instead of an entire question, if it seems appropriate. To display topics related to toolbars. To display more topics. The Excel and Help windows are displayed tiled on the screen. Detailed instructions are displayed in the Help window, allowing you to follow them while you work in the Excel window. To close the Help and Office Assistant windows. The Excel window once again fills the entire screen. The Office Assistant returns to the lower-right corner of the screen, where it will stay until you either call it into service again or hide it from view. (Press Esc.) To remove it from the screen. 1-9
Excel 2000: Worksheets ) Wrap-up for Lesson 1 a Describe some limitations of paper spreadsheets. Paper spreadsheets are not dynamic; if you change numbers on a paper spreadsheet, you have to redo any corresponding computations. b Describe how to start Excel on your computer. From the Start menu, choose Programs, Microsoft Excel. Or, if you have a shortcut to Excel on the desktop, double-click on the shortcut icon. c Describe the purpose of toolbars. Toolbars contain buttons, which provide shortcuts to many commonly used Excel features. 1-10