4.5 Chapter Practice
To assess your understanding of the material covered in the chapter, please complete the following assignments.
Although Excel is primarily used in business and scientific applications, you will find it useful in other areas of study as well. In these exercises we will use Excel to create charts using historical, health, and social justice data.
Charting Historical Data (Comprehensive Review)
Download Data File: PR4 Data
Excel is an excellent tool for helping to display historical date. In this exercise we will be examining ways to display information on minimum mage data and life expectancy.
Task1 – National Minimum Wage in the US – 1960-2014
Since the beginning of the previous century, the United States has set a minimum wage, in order to set a “floor” beneath which wages cannot fall. Most states have set their own minimum wages, but none are lower than the national minimum wage. To learn more about the national minimum wage, look here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_the_United_States
- Open the file named PR4 Data and then Save As PR4 Historical Data.
- On the Minimum Wage worksheet, select the range B4:C60
- Select the Insert tab, then the Recommended Chart tool in the Charts group.
Recommended Charts allows users to first see how selected data would be represented on a variety of chart types before committing to a particular type of chart. Being able to see your data as it would look in a variety of charts helps you select the kind of chart that best matches your date.
It does a particularly good job when you want to use dates or years as labels. Sometimes, Excel gets confused and thinks that dates are part of the data – instead of labels. - Select the first Line chart. Press OK.
- Your line chart is embedded in the Minimum Wage worksheet.
- Make sure that the upper left corner of your chart is in the upper left corner of E4. The lower right corner is in the lower right corner of M20.
- Adjusting the chart title: Click the chart title once. Then click in front of the first letter. You should see a blinking cursor in front of the letter. This allows you to modify the title of the chart.
- Type the following in front of the first letter in the chart title: US National
- While your chart is still selected, select the Design tab. You will find the Chart Styles group in the middle of the ribbon. If necessary, press the More button to see the available styles.
- Float your cursor over the available styles so you can see how they will affect your chart. Select Style 4.
- The years across the X (category) axis are a little hard to read.
Select the labels. When you have them selected, you will see a box surrounding the list of years.
On the Home tab, in the Alignment Group, select the Orientation tool. Select Angle Counter Clockwise. - Prepare the Minimum Wage worksheet for printing by changing the scaling to Fit Sheet on One Page.
Task2 – Oregon: Projected Life Expectancy at Birth
In the past 40 years, between 197