5th Graders Learn To Use Google Sheets with Formulas & Graphs

At the beginning of May, our 5th grade teachers asked if I would be willing to help them teach a math standard around creating a spreadsheet. They wanted me to focus on teaching students how to create and use a spreadsheet to find averages: mode, median and mean.  I jumped at the chance! I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to spreadsheets, and I knew that our 5th grade teachers would also find this information helpful.

We began by gathering simple data points from our students  - their favorite ice cream flavors!  What could possibly be more important.  We covered the most basic concepts of spreadsheet cells and cell addresses. Students began by entering their data points, highlighting the data, and creating and editing graphs from this data. It also created an opportunity for us to discuss graph styles (circle, bar, line graphs) that best match the data.

We then moved to the average temperature for Lakeville, MN.  With the data points entered, students highlighted their data and used the formulas for mode, median and mean (average).  First we inserted the formulas using the available pull down menus in Google Sheets.  Once we tried that, I taught students how to type in the formulas directly into the cell/formula bar and highlight the data. We practice changing the temperatures and watching how it affected the averages.  Voila! Students thought it was cool that the spreadsheet would do their math functions for them!