Power: An Introduction to Google Spreadsheets

Students justed completed a very quick lab where they calculated how much power their lower body produces as they jump into the air. The results from each group were entered into a Google spreadsheet.

1. It will be easiest to follow these instructions if you keep this page open all the time and use separate tabs for the activities.
2. To create a Google spreadsheet, you will need a Google account (it's free). If you don't already have one, go to the Google sign-in page and follow the instructions.
3. Make sure you've signed in to your Google account.
4. Click on the screen shot of the spreadsheet, and the link will open the spreadsheet we generated in class. You will able to view the spreadsheet, but not edit it (I've set it up that way on purpose).
5. Copy the data from our class spreadsheet to your computer's clipboard.
6. Click the "Documents" link near the top of the spreadsheet.
7. Find the drop-down list titled "Create new" near the left side of the screen. Click on it and select "Spreadsheet."
8. Paste the copied data into this new spreadsheet. Since this is your spreadsheet, you are able to edit it and add to it.
9. Congratulations, you have created your first Google spreadsheet!

Let's use the spreadsheet to analyze the data a little further. 

1. In column C, insert a formula that will express each student's power in horsepower (remember, 1 hp = 746 watts). For example, you can do this for cell c2 with the formula "=b2/746".
2. Have the spreadsheet calculate and display the average values for each column at the bottom of the data.
3. I'd like to investigate the relationship between the measured time (column A) and the power (column B). Let's do this by creating a scatter plot of that data. To do this, highlight just that data, click on the "Insert chart" icon, and select the appropriate type of chart.
4. When you're finished, click on the "Share" button in the upper-right portion of the screen to allow anyone online to see your completed work. (They will be able to view it, but not edit it.) Copy the automatically-generated link to your spreadsheet, and post it in the comment section to this post.