In order for students to truly appreciate the rapid, error-free calculations a spreadsheet provides, I like to make them manually calculate their average grade in my math class. Several weeks into the quarter, this becomes a truly cumbersome task. Then students are primed to appreciate a spreadsheet program doing the arithmetic for them.
Statistics are more stable and vary less with increasing number of data points.
The content areas include mathematics, and technology. Basic typing is helpful, as is basic computer use, but most students can successfully create spreadsheets with no previous knowledge or skills to complete this unit. Analyze functional relationships to explain how a change in one quantity results in a change in another Technology Usage Learner uses Microsoft Excel or some other spreadsheet program to create and modify a spreadsheet. The tutuorial or help functions within your spreadsheet program can be helpful for extending this lesson. Placing one high achieving and one low achieving with an average student will enhance the learning of all three.