ISP 120 - Quantitative
Reasoning
Group Activity 5: Describing XY Graphs (OpenOffice Version)
All group activities must include a signed statement from each group member that they participated fully in the assignment.
Please do the following at the beginning of every computer activity.
a. Open a new Writer document (a word processing document in OpenOffice Writer).
b. Click on the "File" on the top menu bar, then go to "Save As". Give your document a somewhat descriptive name (e.g. "Group Activity 5"). Also save the document to the desktop by setting the "Save in" textbox to "Desktop". (Saving to the desktop makes it easy to retrieve your work when you are finished.)
Learning Goals for this Activity
1. Open the file O'HareTempApril2003.xls, which contains the average daily temperature as recorded at O'Hare International Airport for each day in April 2003. We are going to make a chart of this data and discuss the graph.
a. Select
the data with the mouse. Generally speaking it is best to select only the
data, not headers and labels. Spreadsheets sometime handle the headers
very nicely, but at other times it leads to confusion. You are safer to
leave them out.
b. Click
on the "Insert Chart" button at the top of the screen. The icon
depicts a pie chart, and it looks like a circle with three colored parts in it. After you click on the "Insert
Chart" button, move the cursor down over an empty cell in the
spreadsheet. You should then see
the cursor appear as a plus sign with three little bars below it. That means you are ready to tell Calc
where to place the chart you are making.
Draw a square by clicking at the upper left corner of where you want the
chart to be drawn, dragging down and to the right and then releasing the mouse
button when you have the square the size you want it.
c. A
window called "AutoFormat Chart" should then appear. Click "Next." You should then be asked to
"Choose a chart type."
Click on the image of a chart that has little squares scattered around
on it (it will say "XY Chart" when you hold the mouse over it). Which chart type and subtype we choose
depends on the nature of the data we are plotting. Click "Next."
d. Now
you should see "Choose a variant" – asking you to choose which type
of XY chart you want to make. Choose
the one that says "Lines with Symbols" when you hold the mouse over
it. Click "Next."
e. Give the chart a good title, such as "O'Hare Average Daily Temperature." Uncheck the box labeled "Legend." (You only need a legend if you have more than one data series; here we just have one – the one column of temperatures in column B. The numbers in column A are the X axis labels, not a data series.) Check the box labeled "X axis" under "Axis titles." Replace "Column A" in the box to the right with an informative X axis label, such as "Date." Check the "Y axis" box, and replace "Y axis title" with a good axis label, such as "Degrees F." Then click "Create."
f.
Adjust the dimensions of the graph to make it the way you
would like it. Change the X axis labels by right-clicking on one of the
dates on the X axis and selecting "Axis -> X axis" from the pop-up
menu. (If you do not see
"Axis" in the pop-up menu, try clicking outside the chart somewhere,
then double-clicking the chart, then right-clicking on the X axis again. A different menu pops up depending on the
context, so clicking around and trying different things will often get you to
the one you want if you do not see it right away.) Reduce the font size in the "Characters"
tab. In the "Numbers"
tab, uncheck "Source format" and then select "31-Dec" under
"Format" so that the dates will take up less room In the "Label" tab, you can
also change the orientation of the X axis labels so that they are slanted
rather than horizontal, saving more space. You can experiment with other formatting changes too.
The purpose of a graph is to communicate to its intended audience. Make
sure that your graph is clear and that a reader would understand what the graph
is about. Paste your graph in your Writer document.
g. In a well written paragraph in your Writer document, carefully describe the graph. In your paragraph you should include details such as absolute maximum and minimum over the whole month, distinctive relative maxima and minima, distinctive periods of increase and decrease, overall patterns of increase or decrease. Overall, what was the behavior of temperature over April 2003?
2. Similarly, open the file USCrimeRates1978-MostRecent.xls which contain crime rates for the US from 1978 to the near present.
a. Make an XY-graph as before and paste it into your Writer document.
b. Carefully describe the graph as before. This time also include descriptions of the changing rates of change: when the does the change slow down and speed up?