Grade 11: Lesson 6: Working with Spreadsheets

What is a Spreadsheet?

• In a spreadsheet, spaces that hold items of data are called cells. Each cell is labeled according to its placement (for example, A1, A2, A3...) and may have an absolute or relative reference to the cells around it.
• A spreadsheet is generally designed to hold numerical data and short text strings.
• Spreadsheets usually provide the ability to portray data relationships graphically.
• Spreadsheets generally do not offer the ability to structure and label data items as fully as a database and usually do not offer the ability to query the database.
• In general, a spreadsheet is a much simpler program than a database program.

What is a Spreadsheet?

• Daniel Bricklin and Bob Frankston created the first spreadsheet application, VisiCalc (for "visible calculator").
• Lotus 1-2-3 came next, followed by Microsoft Excel.
• While Lotus 1-2-3 was the first to introduce cell names and macros, Microsoft Excel implemented a graphical user interface and the ability to point and click using a mouse.
• There are many other spreadsheet applications on the market today; however, Lotus 1-2-3 and Microsoft Excel continue to be the most popular.

Data Tables

Data Tables—more commonly known today as spreadsheets—were invented to organize arrays of information that our brains can't recall. Spreadsheets help us sort and label in a way that makes sense, so we can reference it and perform calculations later.

The practice actually dates back thousands of years, to the papyrus spreadsheets in the diary of Merrer, an Egyptian Old Kingdom official involved in the construction of the Great Pyramid of Kufu.

History of Spreadsheets

Back then, paper was one of your only options for cataloging huge amounts of data. Now, we've got computers to do the work for us.

When VisiCalc, the first digital spreadsheet, was released in 1979, it eliminated the need to physically write data, calculate values, and store paper spreadsheets. As our tools evolved, programs like Excel (the most popular spreadsheet software of the last 30 years) made digital spreadsheets one of the most popular uses of computers.

There was only one problem: these spreadsheets were tied to a single machine, which made it difficult to share data. Plus, if your sheet was accidentally erased or lost due to computer failure, it was gone for good.

History of Spreadsheets

And so, as the next evolution of the papyrus scratchpad, Google brought spreadsheets online in 2006 with their Google Docs suite. Now in Google Sheets, you can create spreadsheets together with others online, and crunch numbers from any internet-connected device.

Google Sheets

Google Sheets is a spreadsheet app on steroids. It looks and functions much like any other spreadsheet tool, but because it's an online app, it offers much more than most spreadsheet tools. Here are some of the things that make it so much better:

• It’s a web-based spreadsheet that you can use anywhere—no more forgetting your spreadsheet files at home.
• It works from any device, with mobile apps for iOS and Android along with its web-based core app.
• Google Sheets is free, and it's bundled with Google Drive, Docs, and Slides to share files, documents, and presentations online.
• It includes almost all of the same spreadsheet functions—if you know how to use Excel, you'll feel at home in Google Sheets.
• You can download add-ons, create your own, and write custom code.
• It's online, so you can gather data with your spreadsheet automatically and do almost anything you want, even when your spreadsheet isn't open.

Getting Started with Google Sheets

The best way to learn a tool like Sheets is to dive straight in. In this lesson, you'll learn how to:

• Create a Spreadsheet and Fill It With Data
• Format Data for Easy Viewing
• Add, Average, and Filter Data with Formulas
• Share, Protect, and Move Your Data

Common Spreadsheet Terms

To kick things off, let's cover some spreadsheet terminology to help you understand the terms in this lesson:

• Cell: A single data point or element in a spreadsheet.
• Column: A vertical set of cells.
• Row: A horizontal set of cells.
• Range: A selection of cells extending across a row, column, or both.
• Function: A built-in operation from the spreadsheet app, which can be used to calculate cell, row, column, or range values, manipulate data, and more.
• Formula: The combination of functions, cells, rows, columns, and ranges used to obtain a specific result.
• Worksheet (Sheet): The named sets of rows and columns making up your spreadsheet; one spreadsheet can have multiple sheets
• Spreadsheet: The entire document containing your worksheets

Step 1. Create a Spreadsheet and Fill It With Data

The best part about Google Sheets is that it's free and it works on any device—which makes it easy to follow along with the tutorials in this book. All you'll need is a web browser (or the Google Sheets app on your iOS or Android device), and a free Google account. On your Mac or PC, head over to sheets.google.com, and you're ready to get started.

There are 3 ways to create a new spreadsheet in Google Sheets:

• Click the red "NEW" button on your your Google Drive dashboard and select "Google Sheets"
• Open the menu from within a spreadsheet and select "File > New Spreadsheet"
• Click "Blank" or select a template on the Google Sheets homepage

Step 1. Create a Spreadsheet and Fill It With Data

Step 1. Create a Spreadsheet and Fill It With Data

This will create a new blank spreadsheet (or a pre-populated template if you choose one of those). For this tutorial, though, you should start with a blank spreadsheet.

The Google Sheets interface should remind you of at least one other spreadsheet app you’ve seen before, with familiar text editing icons and tabs for extra sheets.

The only difference is that Google has reduced the clutter and number of displayed interface elements. So your first task should be obvious: Add some data!

Step 1. Create a Spreadsheet and Fill It With Data

Step 1. Adding Data to Your Spreadsheet

Look around the white-and-grey grid that occupies most of your screen, and the first thing you’ll notice is a blue outline around the selected cell or cells.

As soon as you open a new spreadsheet, if you just start typing you’ll see that your data starts populating the selected cell immediately—usually the top left cell. There's no need to double click cells when you add information, and not much need to use your mouse.

Step 1. Adding Data to Your Spreadsheet

Feel free to select any cell you’d like, then go ahead and type something in. When you’re done entering data into a cell, you can do one of 4 things:

• Press ENTER to save the data and move to the beginning of the next row
• Press TAB to save the data and move to the right in the same row
• Use the ARROW KEYS on your keyboard (up, down, left, and right) to move 1 cell in that direction
• Click any cell to jump directly to that cell

Step 1. Adding Data to Your Spreadsheet

If you don’t want to type in everything manually, you can also add data to your Sheet en masse via a few different methods:

• Copy and paste a list of text or numbers into your spreadsheet
• Copy and paste an HTML table from a website
• Import an existing spreadsheet in csv, xls, xlsx and other formats
• Copy any value in a cell across a range of cells via a click and drag

Step 1. Adding Data to Your Spreadsheet

Copy & Paste is pretty self-explanatory, but there are times when you’ll try to copy a "spreadsheet-y" set of data from a website or PDF, and it will just paste into one cell or format everything with the original styling. Try looking for data that’s actually in an HTML table (like movie data from IMDB, for example) to avoid getting funky pasted data in your spreadsheet.

Step 1. Adding Data to Your Spreadsheet

Step 1. Adding Data to Your Spreadsheet

Importing a file is simple as well. You can either import directly into the current spreadsheet, create a new spreadsheet, or replace a sheet (i.e. an individual tab) with the imported data.

The most common files you’ll import are CSV (comma separated values) or XLS and XLSX (files from Microsoft Excel). To import a file from outside of your Google Drive, go to the FILE > IMPORT > UPLOAD menu.

I prefer to import the data into a new sheet every time to keep my old data and new imported data separate. Alternatively, if you have a Google Sheet (or a CSV, XLS, or other spreadsheet file) saved in your Google Drive account, you can import that directly into your spreadsheet using the same process—just search your Drive from the import window.

Step 1. Adding Data to Your Spreadsheet

Dragging to copy a cell value needs a bit of explanation, because you’ll use this one a lot once you’ve set up formulas in your spreadsheets.

By dragging the small blue dot (pictured below) in the bottom-right corner of a highlighted cell across or down a range of cells, you can perform a number of different functions.

Step 1. Adding Data to Your Spreadsheet

There are a number of ways you could use this feature:

• Copying a cell’s data to a number of neighboring cells (including formatting)
• Copying a cell’s "Formula" to neighboring cells (this is an advanced feature, and we'll cover it in detail later)
• Creating an ordered list of text data

Here’s an example of how to creating an ordered list might work: Try adding the text Contestant 1 to Cell A1, then clicking and dragging the little blue dot in the bottom-right corner of the highlighted cell either down or across any number of neighboring cells.

Step 1. Adding Data to Your Spreadsheet

Step 1. Adding Data to Your Spreadsheet

If there was no number after Contestant, this dragging action would simply copy "Contestant" to any cells you drag over. But because the number is there, Sheets knows to increment the next cell +1.

Let’s assume that you have either copied, pasted, imported, or typed-in a good chunk of data, and that your spreadsheet is looking pretty healthy.

Now, How can we use this data?

Step 2. Format Data for Easy Viewing

Whether you’re tracking expenses, recording students’ grades, or keeping track of customers in a homebrew CRM (as we'll build in chapter 3), you'll want to manipulate and format your data.

The basic formatting options in Google Sheets are available above your first cell. They're labeled in the image below, but for quick reference while you're working on a sheet, just hover over an icon to see its description and shortcut key.

Step 2. Format Data for Easy Viewing

Print, Undo / Redo, and the Font Settings / Styling function similarly to what you'd expect from your favorite word processor. The shortcut keys are the same as well, so just treat it like you’re editing any other document!

As for everything else, the best way to show you how everything works is to dive right into an example.

I’m going to create a quick list of potential breakfast options for tomorrow morning, along with their ingredients, counts, prices, and links to YouTube videos for how to make them (who knew you could make a 3-minute video about scrambled eggs?).

Step 2. Format Data for Easy Viewing

Step 2. Format Data for Easy Viewing

It’s functional, enough that you could use this very easily to keep track of information. In fact, a vast majority of my own spreadsheets look like this—Google Sheets makes it so simple to capture information, share it, and return to it later for reference that it acts as my highly-structured note-taking tool.

But let’s assume that you have to deal with dozens of spreadsheets per day (or worse, that you have to share spreadsheets back-and-forth) and this is what someone sends you. It’s really boring, and if it was a large data set it would be painful to skim through.

For the simple example above a lack of significant formatting is "okay." It does the basics, storing my information and allowing me to save it. But it’s not something I would want to come back to each day.

Step 2. Format Data for Easy Viewing

Since I eat breakfast every morning, let's take some time to make this spreadsheet more user-friendly with some formatting!

First we’ll "Freeze" the first row in place. That means if we scroll down the spreadsheet, the first row will still be visible, no matter how much data lies below it. This allows you to have a long list and helps to keep tabs on what you’re actually looking at.

There are two ways to freeze rows:

• Click VIEW > FREEZE > 1 ROW in the navigation bar to lock the first row in place
• Hover the dark grey bar in the top left of the spreadsheet (until it becomes a hand) and drag between rows 1 and 2

Step 2. Format Data for Easy Viewing

Step 2. Format Data for Easy Viewing

Freezing my header row is the first thing I do in every sheet I make.

Now, let's make the header text pop with some simple text formatting (remember, the text formatting tools are in the toolbar, just above your first row):

• Drag to select the cells you want to format
• Bold the text
• Increase font size to 12pt
• Center-align the whole row
• Give give your cells a grey fill

Step 2. Format Data for Easy Viewing

Step 2. Format Data for Easy Viewing

The next thing I’ll do to clean this up a bit is format my "Average Price / Serving" to be a dollar value. Here's how things look at first:

Step 2. Format Data for Easy Viewing

Now, let's clean that up with the "Format as $" button for the specific values (or entire row) highlighted.

You'll see that your selected cells are now displayed as a dollar amount, rather than a regular number.

Now that you’ve got the hang of inserting and formatting your data, it’s about time we start actually calculating some sums, averages, and more from your data!

Step 3. Add, Average, and Filter Data with Formulas

For this lesson, we’ll focus on the five most common formulas, which are shown in the formula drop down menu from the top navigation.

Step 3. Add, Average, and Filter Data with Formulas

You can click a formula to add it to a cell, or you can start typing any formula with a = sign in a cell followed by the formula's name. Sheets will auto-fill or suggest formulas based on what you type, so you don't need to remember every formula.

The most basic formulas in Sheets include:

• SUM: adds up a range cells (e.g. 1+2+3+4+5 = sum of 15)
• AVERAGE: finds the average of a range of cells (e.g. 1,2,3,4,5 = average of 3)
• COUNT: counts the values in a range of cells (ex: 1,blank,3,4,5 = 4 total cells with values)
• MAX: finds the highest value in a range of cells (ex: 1,2,3,4,5 = 5 is the highest)
• MIN: finds the lowest value in a range of cells (ex: 1,2,3,4,5 = 1 is the lowest)
• Basic Arithmetic: You can also perform functions like addition, subtraction, and multiplication directly in a cell without calling a formula

We'll explore these formulas by improving our breakfast spreadsheet.

Using the SUM Formula

Let’s start with adding up the total number of ingredients required for each recipe. I’ll use the SUM formula to add each value in the recipes and get a total amount.

There are three ways to use the basic formulas accessible via the top navigation:

• Select a range then click the formula (this will put the result either below or to the side of the range).
• Select the result cell (i.e. the cell where you want the result to appear), then click on the formula you want to use from the toolbar. Finally, select the range of cells to perform your operation on.
• Type the formula into the result cell (don't forget the = sign) then either manually type a range or select the range

Using the SUM Formula

Using the SUM Formula

When you’ve finished selecting the cells that you want to add together, press ENTER.

In my example, you see a grey help section pop up when I start typing the formula. When you create a formula for the first time, you’ll instead notice a blue highlight and a question mark next to the cell.

You can click the question mark to toggle help context for formulas on or off. These tips will tell you what type of information can be used in each formula, and will make your formula creation (especially when you start combining formulas) much easier.

Now that we have a formula set up to SUM all of the ingredients together, let’s make sure that it applies to all of the cells in that row. I’ll select my formula cell and drag the blue dot across the other cells to copy the formula to those cells.

Using the SUM Formula

You’ll notice that when you copy the formula to a neighboring cell, it shifts the range that the new formula is referencing. For instance, in the "Scrambled Eggs" column it was SUM(B2:B8) but in "French Toast" it’s SUM(C2:C8).

Using the COUNT formula

Now that we know how many parts are needed for each recipe, I’d like to know how complicated it is to make. I’ve simplified this by assuming that fewer ingredients means that the recipe is less complicated.

In order to count the number of ingredients in each recipe, I’ll use the COUNT formula.

The count formula essentially checks to see if the cells in a range are empty or not, and returns the total that are filled.

This formula will be set up in my spreadsheet the same way as my SUM row.

Using the COUNT formula

Using the COUNT formula

Here's a trick we didn't cover in the previous section, though: highlight the cell range that you’re trying to count and checking in the bottom right corner of your spreadsheet. If you’ve highlighted a pure list of numbers, Sheets will automatically SUM them for you and display the result. If you’ve highlighted a mixed range of numbers and text, it will COUNT the values.

You also have the option to perform any of the five number-based operations on a range of numbers by clicking the SUM button in the bottom right and selecting the new default formula from the pop-out menu. From then on, anytime you highlight a range it will perform the last-selected formula.

Using the COUNT formula

Using the COUNT formula

So according to my spreadsheet, "Cereal" is the least complicated breakfast, but I’m still not convinced that an easy breakfast is worth it.

What if it costs too much? What if the extra effort of cooking another meal saves me money?

Let’s refine our decision by figuring out the average cost per serving of the breakfast choices by using the AVERAGE formula.

Using the AVERAGE formula

I’ve added some faux minimum and maximum prices per unit on my ingredients list to the right of my breakfast options. We’ll want to get an average price for each ingredient using the low and high rates, then multiply the resulting average price of the ingredient by its respective unit count in each recipe.

I’ll start by highlighting the range of values (in this case it’s two side-by-side rather than a vertical range) and selecting the AVERAGE formula from the toolbar.

This will drop the result into the column to the right of the maximum price column. Next, I drag the formula down to apply it to the other min and max price combinations.

I'll label my column "Average Unit Cost" so we know what we’re looking at. Then, let's move on to calculating the cost of the breakfast using simple arithmetic.

Using the AVERAGE formula

Using Simple Arithmetic Formulas

We need to calculate the total cost of the breakfast by multiplying the average price of each ingredient by its unit count in the recipe. To accomplish this, manually type a formula into the "Avg Price" row.

Our basic arithmetic formula would look like this for the "Scrambled Eggs" column:

=$I2*B2+$I3*B3+$I4*B4+$I5*B5+$I6*B6+$I7*B7+$I8*B8

The $ symbol before column I (the average prices) tells Sheets that no matter where we put the formula in our spreadsheet, we always want to reference the I column. That way, if we copy the formula to the other recipes, it will always use the average unit cost column rather than shifting the reference to the next column over when you drag to copy (like it did in the SUM and COUNT examples).

Using Simple Arithmetic Formulas

Using Simple Arithmetic Formulas

If you don't want to type those values in manually, there are cleaner ways to perform this type of formula: You could accomplish the same price calculation by using this advanced formula:

=SUM(ARRAYFORMULA(B2:B8*$I2:$I8))

There are many formulas in Sheets that take care of complex tasks for you, many of which we'll dig into in the next chapters.

Now that we have some working data and calculations, perhaps my coworkers (who are likely planning to eat breakfast tomorrow) might benefit from this sheet.

Let’s prepare to share our spreadsheet, and invite some collaborators to view, edit, and use our data.

Step 4. Share, Protect, and Move Your Data

Here’s how it works:

• Click either FILE > SHARE or use the blue "Share" button in the top right
• Click "advanced", then enter emails of who can view or edit your spreadsheet
• Select any other privacy options and hit done

Step 4. Share, Protect, and Move Your Data

When you open the "advanced" sharing panel, you’ll see a number of options.

Step 4. Share, Protect, and Move Your Data

The default functionality when you click the "Share" Button is to copy a link to the spreadsheet to your clipboard.

When you share this link with someone via a messenger or email, if they click the link it will bring them to the spreadsheet. However, unless you’ve invited them via email (in the email field) and selected "Can Edit", they will still need to request permission to make changes.

If you’d like to give anyone within your organization or company editor-level access, click the "change…" button in the "Who has Access" section and select "On - (Your Organization Name)**". (Note: this option will only appear if you're using Google Apps for Work.)

Step 4. Share, Protect, and Move Your Data

When you open the "advanced" sharing panel, you’ll see a number of options.

Google Sheets

Google Sheets is a powerful tool—it's everything you'd expect from a spreadsheet, with the extra perks of an online app. While the example spreadsheet that we created may have been a bit silly, the practical applications of using Sheets for your workflows (both business and personal) are limitless.

Now that you know how to make a spreadsheet, it's time to fill your spreadsheet with data. The best way to do that in an online spreadsheet is with a form—and in the next lesson, we'll look at the free Google Forms tool that can help you gather data and save it directly to your spreadsheet.

SUM, COUNT, AVERAGE

• SUM allows you to sum any number of columns or rows by selecting them or typing them in, for example, =SUM(A1:A8) would sum all values in between A1 and A8 and so on.

SUM, COUNT, AVERAGE

• COUNT counts the number of cells in an array that have a number value in them. This would be useful for maybe determining if someone has paid, or in other database situations.

SUM, COUNT, AVERAGE

• AVERAGE does exactly what it sounds like and take the average of the numbers you input.

IF STATEMENTS

• IF statements are super useful in a lot of situations, and this function allows you to output text if a case is valid, or false. For example, you could write =IF(A1>A2, "GOOD", "BAD"), where A1>A2 is the case, "GOOD" is the output if true and "BAD is the output if false.

SUMIF, COUNTIF, AVERAGEIF

• These functions are a combination of the SUM, COUNT, AVERAGE functions with the attachment to IF statements. All of these functions are structured the same way, being =FUNCTION(range, criteria, function range). So in SUM, you could input =SUM(A1:A15, "GOOD", B1:B13). This would add B1 through B13 if the values of A1 through A15 all said GOOD. You may be starting to see how many of these formulas can be applied on top of each other to create some complex spreadsheets.

SUMIF, COUNTIF, AVERAGEIF

• SUMIF - Sums the items if the criteria is met

SUMIF, COUNTIF, AVERAGEIF

• COUNTIF - Counts the items if the criteria is met

SUMIF, COUNTIF, AVERAGEIF

• AVERAGEIF - Counts the items if the criteria is met

VLOOKUP

• This function allows you to search for something in leftmost column of a spreadsheet and return it as a value. An example of how to use this would be as follows: =VLOOKUP(lookup value, the table being searched, index number, sorting identifier). The downside to this function is it requires the information being searched to be in the leftmost column.

CONCATENATE

• Concatenate is not only a fantastic word to say, but it is also a useful function if you need to combine data into one cell. Say for example you had a first and last name, in cells A1 and A2 respectively. You would type =CONCATENATE(A1," ",B2), which would combine the names into one cell, with the " " adding a space in between.

AND, OR

• AND - Returns TRUE if both conditions are met

• OR - Returns TRUE if one condition is met

COUNTA

• Like the COUNT function, COUNTA counts all cells in a given rage. However, it counts all cells regardless of type. That is, unlike COUNT that only counts numerics, it also counts dates, times, strings, logical values, errors, empty string, or text.

LEN and TRIM

• The LEN formula returns a given text string as the number of characters, which is useful when you want to count how many characters there are in some text.

LEN and TRIM

• The TRIM formula cleans up extra spaces in data

LEFT, MID and RIGHT

• The LEFT function can return text from the beginning of a cell (left to right)

LEFT, MID and RIGHT

• MID returns text from any start point of the cell (left to right)

LEFT, MID and RIGHT

• RIGHT returns text from the end of the cell (right to left)