Spreadsheets

1
Spreadsheets

• PGCE Primary
• School of Education
• University of Southampton

2
Spreadsheets

• Designed especially for working with numbers
• Extremely powerful, with a host of mathematical,
  scientific and engineering capabilities
• Good packages include Excel (Microsoft), Lotus
  123, Open Office Calc
• Some packages designed for primaries any good???

3
Spreadsheets

• Flexible, enabling powerful what if solutions
• Include graphing capability
• Easy to use
• Requires understanding of spreadsheet formulas
  (not difficult)
• Cuts down on calculations

4
Spreadsheets

• Dear Amy
• Now that I am getting on (I turn 70 today), I
  want to give you some of my money. I shall give
  you a sum each year, starting now. You can
  choose which of the following schemes you would
  like me to use.
• 1. 100 now, 90 next year, 80 the year after
  that, and so on.
• 2. 10 now, 20 next year, 30 the year after
  that, ans so on.
• 10 now, one and a half as much next year, one
  and a half as much againthe year after, and so
  on.
• 4. 1 now, 2 next year, 4 the year after, 8
  the year after that, and so on.
• Of course, these schemes can only operate while I
  am alive. I look forward to hearing which scheme
  you choose, and why!
• Best wishes
• Aunt Lucy

An example of a spreadsheet used for a
mathematical investigation. Acknowledgement
Hertfordshire Spreadsheet Project, 1986
5
Paulas PartyPaula sends you a card measuring
20 x 20 cms, with the following message on it

• Please join me for my birthday party. Use this
  card to make a box for holding your smarties at
  the party. Make the box as big as possible, so
  that it holds as many smarties as possible.
• What approach would you use? Trial and error? A
  carefully crafted mathematical plan?
• Use scissors or a craft knife and cutting board
  to make the biggest box you can.

6
Mr McGregors Garden

• Mr McGregor wants to make a vegetable garden, but
  needs a fence to keep the rabbits out. He has 30
  metres of rabbit proof fencing. What size garden
  can he make?

Does the shape make a difference?
7
Shopping

• Your year group (60 altogether) is going on an
  outing to the zoo. You decide to take a packed
  lunch, consisting of a two bottles of water
  (500ml) each, a salad and two hot dogs for each
  person. Use the internet to look up the relevant
  prices from Tesco, Sainsburys, The Coop and Asda
  and use the Shopping spreadsheet to see which is
  cheapest. Take into account your travel costs
  60p/mile

8
Spreadsheets

• Main advantage
• Cuts out inauthentic labour (unnecessary
  calculations) and allows pupils to interface
  directly with the mathematics
• Quick and easy to learn and use
• Flexible easy to use what if capability
  encourages experimentation and effective learning