Chapter 2 (Gaining Proficiency): Hands-on exercises 1, 2, 3

Chapter 3 (Spreadsheets in Decision Making) Hands-on exercises 1, 2, 3

Chapter 4 (Graphs and Charts) Hands-on exercises 1, 2 (not 3!)

Note that it will help to work with a partner for these exercises. Read the comments written here before you start – they will help with understanding the book and troubleshooting the lab material.

Due by 4pm Tuesday November 24
If you don't hand it during your lab meeting hand it directly to your instructor

Create a cover page using Microsoft Word containing the following information:

• Name
• Lab Section (letter+number, not just time, if you don’t know it get it off the class web page)
• Date
• Title (e.g. CS 101 Lab 7)

Staple the cover page to all the printouts from the exercises in the order listed below. If you work with a partner make sure to print a copy of each exercise for both of you. Note that some of the exercises do not explicitly ask you to print, use this list as a guide of what you should print

• Chapter 2: Hands-on Exercise 2 (1) My Grade Book (2) My Grade Book displaying formulas
• Chapter 2: Hands-on Exercise 3 (3) Finished Financial Forecast (4) Finished Financial Forecast displaying formulas
• Chapter 3: Hands-on Exercise 1 (5) Analysis of a Car Loan (6) Analysis of a Car Loan displaying formulas
• Chapter 3: Hands-on Exercise 2 (7) Variable Rate Mortgage (8) Variable Rate Mortgage displaying formulas
• Chapter 3: Hands-on Exercise 3 (9) Finished Expanded Grade Book (10) Finished Expanded Grade Book displaying formulas
• Chapter 4: Hands-on Exercise 2 (11) Finished Software Sales -- Entire Workbook (note that this should comprise 4 sheets)

Financial Forecast

Expanded Grade Book

Software Sales

If you ftp-d the .exe file containing the practice files from lab 6, you already have all of these files. If you did not, you can copy them from burhans folder on the z drive in the lab into your account in the lab or onto a floppy disk if you want to work on the projects outside the lab. Detailed instructions for how to do that are included as part of lab 6. If you want to ftp the practice files do that from the lab 6 web page.

Where the book says A or C drive, you will probably want the Z drive if you are in the lab, the C drive if you are working on your own or a friend’s computer where you can store files permanently, and A (floppy disk) if you are working somewhere you do not have any permanent disk storage available or if you want to bring your work with you.

If you want to work at home and come to the lab to print things, use a floppy disk to transport your files.

The general procedure for modifying a file is (1) get a copy of the file (2) open that file in e.g. Excel (3) go to file and save as to save that file with a new name. This preserves the original file in case you need it again later. From that point onward you can just use save to save the file with the new name. The original file will not be changed!

To clear a box with a check mark in it, click on the box. Check boxes are called toggles, clicking makes the value change from checked to clear and back again.

When you select a range of cells, the first one you click in will not look like it is highlighted, it will still have a white background.

If you want a toolbar to appear and it isn’t showing, you can go to View then Toolbars and select the one you want to see OR you can point at any toolbar that is showing and click the right mouse button to display the list of toolbars to select from. Pointing and right clicking displays what is called a context sensitive menu.

If the book is confusing, look to see if what is being described is on the next page. This is frequently necessary as text and illustrations are split between pages (e.g. pp 55-56)

To exit from Print Preview without printing click the button that says close.

When typing a cell reference, e.g. C4, it doesn’t matter if you use upper or lower case letters for the cell column letter.

If you get a message about a worksheet being in an old format and do you want to save it in a new format click yes, some of the practice files were made in Excel 95.

Even if you can’t see cell boundaries, e.g. if there is a large block of color on the spreadsheet, you can still click in the cells and type things.

On page 58 do not change the default file location

On page 63 don’t type your Social Security number, make up a 9-digit number and type that instead

On page 114 the OK needs to have double quotes around it, to move between text fields in that box use tab or click the mouse, if you press enter before you’re done you will have to start over again. Also, that function box can be moved by clicking and dragging, it will probably be brought up initially in an inconvenient place. This is the most tedious part of the entire assignment (functions).