Spreadsheet Start — Digital Futures

🎯 Learning Objectives

✓Enter data and use SUM, AVERAGE, MIN, MAX formulas accurately
✓Create a chart that correctly represents data
✓Explain why chart type choice matters

📚 Key Vocabulary

Formula

A calculation in a spreadsheet, always starting with =

Cell reference

The address of a cell, e.g. B3 — used in formulas

Function

A pre-built formula like SUM() or AVERAGE()

Chart

A visual representation of data — type matters

⏱️ Lesson Timing (50 mins)

🪝

Hook

5 mins

"Would you rather earn £50,000 as a flat salary, or start at £30,000 with a 5% raise each year?" Students guess — then teacher shows a spreadsheet model that answers it definitively.

👨‍🏫

Teach

10 mins

•Spreadsheet grid: rows, columns, cells — the foundation
•Data types: text vs numbers — formulas only work on numbers
•Key formulas: =SUM(), =AVERAGE(), =MIN(), =MAX(), =COUNT()
•Cell references: why B3+C3 is better than 5+7
•Charts: bar chart (comparing categories), line chart (change over time), pie chart (proportions — use sparingly)

🛠️

Create

40 mins

Students receive a "Fictional Class Survey" dataset (pre-made). Task: (1) Calculate total, average, min and max for several columns. (2) Create a bar chart comparing results across groups. (3) Create a line chart showing a trend. (4) Spot the "misleading chart" in the example pack and explain what's wrong. (5) Bonus: build a simple personal budget (income vs. expenses, using their own made-up figures).

Tools:

Excel Online

📢

5 mins

Which chart type is most often misused? Class votes and explains.