Digital Communication Tools

Chapter 10: Spreadsheets

Additional Activities

Sports Statistics

Objective

Learn about sporting statistics use averages. Research an athlete of your choice and collect data on that athlete's performances. Create a spreadsheet to calculate a sports statistic for that athlete.

Materials

Computer with Internet access
Sports section of a newspaper
Spreadsheet program, such as Microsoft Excel

Procedure

Discuss various sporting statistics and brainstorm different statistics used in sporting events.
Choose one athlete and one statistic to follow over the course of several days or weeks. Depending on the sport, you may need to track this information for a varying amount of time in order to obtain enough data to complete the spreadsheet.
Create a spreadsheet to track the data that you have gathered.

Extension

Keep track of the statistics for one of the teams for your school. Create a spreadsheet for a particular statistic and take turns gathering data at events. Submit the statistics to the coach of the team.

Changing Water Temperature

Objective

Record temperature data as you take ice water and bring it to a boil. Create a line graph of the temperature as it changes over time.

Materials

Ice water — half water and half ice
Thermometer
Bunsen burner
Safety goggles
Heat protection gloves
Container to heat water

Procedure

Set up your station with a container half full of an ice water mixture, a Bunsen burner, and any safety equipment required by your school.
Record the starting temperature of the ice water.
With your teacher's permission, turn on the Bunsen burner to a medium setting.
Record the temperature of the heating water every 30 seconds until the water boils.
After you have gathered their data, create a spreadsheet with the information gathered.
Create a line graph showing the changes in water temperature as the water heated.

Extension

Redo steps 1-6 above three times, heating the water on a low setting the first time, on a medium setting the second time, and on a high setting the third time. Compare how long it took for the water to boil at each setting. Did the setting of the Bunsen burner affect the time it took the water to boil? If so, how?

Sunrise and Sunset Data

Objective

Research the times of sunrise and sunset for your location. Create a line graph of this information as it changes over the year.

Materials

Computer with Internet connection and spreadsheet software, such as Microsoft Excel

Procedure

Discuss with your class how the times of the sunrise and sunset change during the year.
Use a search engine to find a Web site with the sunrise and sunset times in your town.
Record data from this or a similar Web site. Record at least one sunrise and sunset time from each month of one year. Focus on one day each month, such as the first, fifteenth, or thirtieth.
Input this data into two spreadsheets, one for sunrise time and one for sunset time.
Create a graph displaying this data.

Extension

Research sunrise and sunset times from other places in the world. How does the position on earth affect the amount of sunlight per day? Which months of the year typically have longer days? Which months have shorter days? Does the position of the location affect which time of year has more sunlight per day?