Excel Project - University of Florida



Excel Project

Objectives:

• Using Excel Spreadsheet, the 11th and 12th grade Honors Sociology students will create a budget for a single teenage parent using an allotted amount of $ 960.00 for a one month period.

• The 11th and 12th grade Honors Sociology students will use the calculation tool in Excel to solve the average, sum, or percentage of each category in their spreadsheet.

• The 11th and 12th grade Honors Sociology students will construct a graph in Excel, based on the results from their budget.

• Based on the graph, the 11th and 12th grade Honors Sociology students will type a five paragraph essay (double-spaced) interpreting the varying costs associated with raising a baby.

Assignment:

Your assignment is to create a budget (in groups of three) for a single teenage parent using a total of $960.00 for a one month period. Your group will be using Excel spreadsheet to keep track of the varying costs. After completing the budget, you will then need to construct a graph with the tools provided in Excel spreadsheet. When the budget and graph are completed, your group will then turn in a five paragraph essay (typed and double-spaced) explaining and interpreting your budget.

The Budget:

Think of the costs a single teenage parents might have. Decide what your group wants to include in the budget and how to categorize the varying costs. Some costs to consider are food, rent, diapers, electric/utilities, gas, car insurance, doctor’s bills, personal care products, phone, and child care. Remember, these are only a few suggestions, your group may decide to include more. If your group is uncertain about the cost of certain things ask your parents, call local apartment managers to get some prices on rent, go to the store and price a pack of diapers and a bottle of formula. The purpose of this assignment is for your groups to decide what financial costs to include in your budget, why those costs are important, and to plan your budget wisely based on the total amount of money you have to spend.

Next, your group needs to decide how to keep track of these varying costs. Would it be better to keep track of the costs day by day, week by week, or for one month? Would it be more appropriate to have larger categories to group certain costs in or to keep all the costs separate? Are you going to calculate the average cost in each category, the total amount, or the percentage of the total budget? The goal is to find the simplest and most appropriate way to develop your budget so that you may display your results in a chart or graph.

The Graph:

After completing your budget, how are you going to display the results visually in a graph? What type of graph is the most appropriate for this assignment? Your group may choose to display your results in a pie chart, a bar graph, or in some other type of graph. Not all graphs offered in Excel will fit the purpose of this assignment. Remember, to label the parts of the graph appropriately and to title the graph. Without such labels, your audience will not be able to understand the graph. The graph will be included in your later presentation.

The Essay:

Upon completion of the budget and graph, your group will then write and five paragraph essay (typed and double-spaced) explaining the budget and the different categories of costs your group decided to include. You may also want to explain how you came about finding these different costs. Did your group go to the store and price items; did you call around town for different prices of rent or child care services?

Also, your group should then evaluate the results. Did your group feel you had enough money for various bills? Did your group run out of money? Do the members in your group feel as a single teenage parent they could take on such financial responsibilities at such a young age?

Grading:

• Budget: 25 points

• Graph: 25 points

• Essay: 50 points

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Total: 100 points

Budget: I will grade your group on the layout of the budget and proper headings in the spreadsheet. I am looking to see how your group keeps track of costs and how you categorize the different costs. For this assignment, your group must use the calculation tool. How you use the tool is left to your discretion. As previously stated, your group may use the total sum of each category, the average cost of each category, or the percentage of the total budget that each category is.

Graph: I will grade your group on the type of graph you choose. The graph should be the best visual representation of your group’s data and should be the easiest for audiences to understand. Your graph should have a title, and the axis (if you have them) should be labeled correctly. If your group thinks a legend is necessary, you should include one.

Essay: I will be looking for grammatical and spelling errors as well as logical consistency. You are to include both and introduction and closing paragraph. It is important to include an explanation of your budget and the categories your group chose. Although your group will not be graded on its opinion about the assignment, the purpose of the assignment is for your group to reflect on the financial responsibilities one would face at a young age if a baby was involved.

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