Making Tables and Graphs with Excel The Basics
Where do my IV and DV go? Just like you would create a data table on paper, your IV goes in the leftmost column and your DV goes to the right of the IV Enter this data in your spreadsheet just like this IV = Time (seconds) DV = Temperature ( C) To make the degree sign: 1. Select the Insert tab 2. Look on the far right for Symbol 3. Scan the possible symbols until you see degree ( )
Don t forget a data table title! To add a title to the top of your table (or when you need to add a row): Click on the 1 to select the row Right click on that row Select Insert now you have room above your data for a title!
Your title should go in one cell, but right now there are two cells. You need to make the two cells into one big cell without deleting a column. This is called merging cells. Merging Cells
You can also: Select the cells you want to combine by highlighting them Right click on those selected cells to get this menu Merging Cells
Finishing the Merge Now select Format Cells Then select Alignment and click Merge Cells Now have one cell to rule them all Image courtesy of: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:and9gcstujeslbesnglk7y Ewu1Jh0EcUgSsZKRnxmhlD7mXCRufRwkvX
Another way to merge cells Be sure you have Home selected Click this shortcut if you ve highlighted the cells you want to merge
Does your table look like this? Hooray!
Finishing off the table To add a border to your table: Highlight all of the cells in your table and right click Select Format Cells Select Border Click on Inside and Outside to outline every cell
How do I make a graph of this data? Select the cells (boxes) that contain the data you want to graph You do this by clicking on the A2 cell, holding down the left mouse button, and dragging so all of the cells are highlighted EXCEPT THE TITLE Don t highlight the title see how it is still white? The cells look gray and a dark black border appears around your selection
How do I make a graph of this data? Now click on the Insert Ribbon and you ll see the following options appear: Gee, I see some great pictures of different graph types!
How do I make a graph of this data? Select the graph type that is appropriate for your data in this case, choose Scatter Trust me these is the fastest and best way to create a line graph
How do I make a graph of this data? Once that is selected, you ll want to click the one shown here it creates a line graph out of your data points I love connecting the dots!
Your screen now looks like this
Labeling Your Graph You now need to label your graph (the x-axis, y-axis, and a title) To do this, select the Layout ribbon under Chart Tools Hit that one!
Labeling Your Graph This is what you should now see notice the options for Chart Title, Axis Titles, etc.
Labeling Your Graph You can also change the number of Gridlines and add a Legend here too
Finished Product By the time you re done, you should have a graph that looks something like this Remember, it s okay to connect the dots since both the IV and DV are continuous sets of data the line has meaning for every x and y value!
How do I make other graphs? The same basic steps apply just select a different graph type Bar graph Pie graph Scatter plot
Now try to create a data table and graph for each of the following data sets What type of graph would be best for each of these? Show Ms. VH as you complete each one
Advanced Graphing Sometimes you will have data that includes a number of trials like this:
Advanced Graphing In data with multiple trials, you typically only need to report the average, since it represents the best value for your data (minimizes the variability) To graph the data, highlight the cells with the IV and hold CTRL at the same time as you highlight the cells with the average - Do you see how only these cells have been selected? (they are gray)
Advanced Graphing Try it! If you ve done this properly, here is what the resulting scatter plot will look like Notice how only the averages have been plotted