Excel Penny Puzzle and New Flag for Xytanium

Part 1)  In return for your valient service in battle during the war against the Flembots, King Coppernium gives you a choice for your reward. Option (A) is to receive 1 million dollars up front at the start of the month, this being the month of May. Option (B) is to receive 1 penny on May 1st, which doubles in value each day until the end of the month.With option B, you can't receive payment until May 31st. Which option would or should you choose?  Set up an Excel table and a formula to show why.

Also, create a line graph using Excel that shows the growth of the penny throughout the month of May.

It should look something like this:

Part 2)  Create the New Flag for Xytanium (a hypothetical new country on the map)!  Use Excel's graphic functions like changing color backgrounds and foregrounds, inserting shapes and text, inserting lines or pics with novel formatting (bevel, shadow, frames, etc.) functions.  Here's an example:

Remember to Save your work as an Excel Workbook file with your first and last name and then g-mail it to me as an attachment to  rwiegs@gmail.com 

Don’t forget to Cc yourself (send it to your own e-mail address as well).

If you have any questions about this assignment, please don't hesitate to ask!

Excel Intro Math Steps and Date & Time functions

This exercise has 2 parts.

Open up a new Excel workbook and create two spreadsheets (rename the first one "Steps" and the second "Date&Time").

You should now have 2 tabs at the bottom of the workbook.

Part 1 - Steps

In the "Steps" spreadsheet, the goal is to label a series of mathematical calculations (10 steps) as in the image below, beginning with a start number, which you should input at the top.  Highlight this input cell with a yellow background and place a thick border around it. This start number is a constant, it is not a formula cell.  All the 9 cells beneath this highlighted cell, however, (cells E4 to E12) are formula cells, not constants.  You should number the series of steps 1 through 10 from C3 to C12.  Can you find a starting number (cell E3) that will produce the same result at the end (cell E12)?  Try out different numbers in cell E3 to find out.   Your spreadsheet should look something like this:

Part 2 - Date and Time functions

In this spreadsheet, type in the questions "What time is it now?" in cell C3 and "What is today's date?" in cell C4.  To answer these questions using Excel, input the following formulas: key in  =NOW() in cell D3 to get the exact time of day.  Format cell D3 by right-clicking on it and format it as Format Cells/ Number/Time and choose the short time format as in the spreadsheet below.

To answer the second question, use the =TODAY() function (key it into cell D4).  Format this cell by right-clicking on D4 with FormatCells/Number/Date  and choose the short date format.  For the cell below it (D5), copy the cell formula from above and format the cell with the long date format.  (See the spreadsheet image below):

Next, answer the 4 questions below using the =TODAY() function in the same spreadsheet.

And that's it.  You've completed the second Excel assignment.

Remember to Save Your Spreadsheet  using File/Save As     IntroExcel_FirstNameLastName     and attach it to a GMail that you will send to me at rwiegs@gmail.com 

Remember, if you get stuck with creating the table in Excel or whatever, please ask for help.  You can also come by during lunch period for one-one-one or small group assistance.

Excel Max Rent Exercise

Technology Terms of the Week

                     Technology Terms/Sites of the Week

 Week of 10/28/13 – 11/01/13

Term, Site or Blog name	Description	Why It’s Useful
Baidu.com	China’s version of Google.com	Search the web using Chinese keywords
Weibo.com	China’s version of Facebook	Building a friend or business network in China
Alibaba.com	China’s version of Amazon	2nd biggest consumer market in the world
jd.com	China’s version of Ebay	2nd biggest consumer market in the world
http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends	Google tracks the number of keyword searches as a measure of popularity or interest	find out about the hottest trending searches on Google right NOW!
Google Chrome Web Store	Free web apps site for Chrome browser	Where you can get free apps useful only with the Google Chrome browser

Week of 11/04/13 – 11/08/13

Term, Site or Blog name	Description	Why It’s Useful
Chrome	Google’s web browser	Most popular browser
Internet Explorer (IE)	Microsoft’s web browser	2nd most popular browser
Firefox	Mozilla’s web browser	3rd most popular browser – well-liked by html programmers
Search engine	Developed by Yahoo and mastered by Google as a means of finding info on the web	You can search for sites, articles, videos on the web using keyword
Google, Yahoo, and Bing	Top 3 search engines	You want to search for keywords with the most active and powerful algorithms

Week of 11/11/13 – 11/15/13

Term, Site or Blog name	Description	Why It’s Useful
Google Maps	Google’s virtually worldwide online atlas for drivers, bikers and pedestrians	Get driving directions from points A to B, with real-time traffic updates, topography and street views
Caseconvert.com	A useful site for converting uppercase to lowercase text – but these functions are also available on Word and Excel	If you ever have to convert uppercase text to lowercase or vice versa, then this site is for you!
Babycenter.com	Get expert and community advice on raising children – health issues, cost calculators, fertility, and parental topics of concern	How much does it cost to raise a child in CT ages 0-18? With or w/o college?

Week of 11/25/13 – 11/29/13

Term, Site or Blog name	Description	Why It’s Useful
Cyber Monday	The first Monday following Thanksgiving Day Weekend	Typically when online retailers offer incredible discount deals to start off the holiday buying season
Black Friday	The day following Thanksgiving, when brick and mortar stores offer huge sales to kick off holiday buying season	40% of sales traditionally occur during the last 40 days of the year – this day used to represent the day when retail businesses first turned a profit for the year, but it is losing importance as shoppers are moving online and look for bargains now throughout the year
Brick and mortar stores	Refers to traditional stores in malls or with physical presence on streets – as opposed to online shopping via web sites.  Which are the biggest online retail web sites?	While brick and mortar stores are losing out to online shopping opportunities, they still represent the majority of total sales by far.  Why is that?
Future Value formula (FV)	The mathematical foundation of compounded or exponential investment growth.  FV= PV x (1+ r)^t where FV stands for future value, PV stands for present value (the starting value of an investment), r is the average or assumed growth rate of the investment, and t is the number of periods (usually years) that the investment is compounding for	Used to project the value of an investment into the future, assuming a constant or average growth rate over “t” number of periods (usually years).  All individuals should take advantage of the exponential growth of their money in qualified retirement plans like Roth IRAs and 401Ks.

IRD - Mission 3: Convert Text from UPPERCASE to lowercase

 

        
Internet Research Detective – Mission 3

        
Convert Text from UPPERCASE to lowercase

                              ...and from lowercase to UPPERCASE

Your mission is to find a web site that will convert any text from uppercase to lowercase and vice versa.  The sample text to convert appears below:

THIS IS A SAMPLE PARAGRAPH WRITTEN WITH UPPERCASE TEXT. 

FILLER TEXT IN LATIN:

OREM IPSUM DOLOR SIT AMET, CONSECTETUR ADIPISCING ELIT. FUSCE CONSECTETUR ACCUMSAN QUAM NON PRETIUM. SED AC LACUS CONVALLIS, SODALES ELIT EGET, CONSEQUAT NISL. FUSCE AC EUISMOD MI. UT AT METUS LACUS. SED POSUERE VIVERRA EROS. SUSPENDISSE LIGULA ELIT, PHARETRA NON NUNC ET, CONGUE MATTIS MI. ALIQUAM ERAT VOLUTPAT. VESTIBULUM ELIT FELIS, INTERDUM NON PLACERAT NEC, FERMENTUM EGET DUI. NUNC IMPERDIET ODIO SIT AMET SEMPER VIVERRA. DUIS EGET AUGUE ODIO. ETIAM PORTA, NISL VEL SUSCIPIT MOLLIS, NULLA ARCU MATTIS ANTE, AT FRINGILLA MASSA NUNC EU AUGUE. MAURIS IMPERDIET NUNC VITAE ELIT TRISTIQUE, SED LUCTUS LIGULA ALIQUET. ALIQUAM TINCIDUNT COMMODO ARCU, CONVALLIS PELLENTESQUE ARCU IMPERDIET BIBENDUM.

This is a sample paragraph written with lowercase text. 

Filler text in latin:

Cras lorem sapien, blandit aliquam commodo non, varius sit amet velit. Praesent ut sapien nec metus condimentum euismod id in elit. In congue elit felis, convallis pellentesque augue tempor sed. Mauris neque augue, fermentum ut urna gravida, fermentum fringilla ante. Morbi at lacinia turpis. Aliquam erat volutpat. Mauris tincidunt erat ultricies sodales pellentesque. Donec sit amet nunc id elit pulvinar convallis tristique eu justo. Donec pulvinar leo in odio mattis laoreet. Donec commodo pretium rutrum. Pellentesque lacinia metus augue, sed gravida lacus aliquam vel. Praesent eget blandit magna, vitae tristique diam. Morbi felis eros, molestie id fringilla sed, scelerisque ut tellus. Vivamus felis nunc, sagittis sed sagittis sed, interdum sit amet tellus.

Please convert both sample texts to the desired case and use a different font color for your answer.

Finally, save your word as a Word doc file with your name and g-mail it to me at   rwiegs@gmail.com Don’t forget to Cc yourself (send it to your own e-mail address as well).

IRD - Mission 2: Google Maps Exercise

           

  Internet Research Detective – Mission 2

Google Maps – Send directions to a friend or relative

Parent –teachers meetings are coming up this week. Say you need to give your parent or guardian directions to the Hyde School.  Let’s send them an e-mail message containing a link to Google Maps that will give them directions from your home to school. 

Visit  https://maps.google.com/

a)      Find directions to the Hyde School (88 Basset Road in North Haven, CT).  This will be Point B.

b)    Click on Get Directions to input your home address (Point A), and click again on Get Directions.

c)     Use the link icon (short option) to create a link to your Google Map, which you can then insert or add to your e-mail!

d) Use Gmail to send an e-mail to your parent/guardian, Cc: yourself, and Bcc: the teacher at:     rwiegs@gmail.com

P.S. Don’t forget to check the Traffic option to see how heavy traffic can be at different times during the day.

IRD Mission 1: 3 Online Research Tasks

     

             Internet Research Detective – Mission 1
                     3 Online Research Questions

1) What is the cost of raising a child in the State of  CT?    babycenter.com/baby/cost-of-raising-a-child-calculator

a)    ages 0-18

b)    ages 0-22 with public college education

c)    What are the 2 biggest expense categories

     parents face?

2) What are the hottest 5 trending topics being  searched on Google right NOW? 

To find out, visit Google.com/trends/hottrends

         or bit.ly/wall321 (then change the country setting                                              from the U.K. to the United States)

3)  Go to the Google Chrome Web Store and find a useful app that you would recommend to the rest of the class.       

    
     You can also click on this link for the assignment.

                Send your answers to:     rwiegs@gmail.com