Friday, April 3, 2009

Technology & Research Class

HOW MUCH WATER DOES YOUR FAMILY USE?

The following lesson is an exercise on using Excel spreadsheets. Please complete the following task indicated below:

In this activity, you will follow a series of steps to determine how much water your family uses, record your findings in an Excel spreadsheet, and then write a report analyzing your findings.


Step 1: Determine your family's water usage
• What to do
Determine your family's water usage and report on your findings

1. Open the Excel water usage worksheet template on your computer.
2. Save the worksheet, and use your first name and last initial as the document title.
3. Open Internet Explorer, and visit the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Web site.
4. Review and answer the questions about water usage. Be sure to record your answers on your Excel worksheet and also on the Web site. You will use the worksheet to compare and analyze your family water usage.
5. Record the total number of gallons of water.
6. Go to the Water Usage Chart tab at the bottom of your Excel worksheet. Print your chart.

7. Open a new Word document, and then answer the following questions about your water usage:

• What activity uses the most water for your family?
• What is the average number of gallons each member of your family used?
• What three things can you do to reduce the amount of water used at your house?
• How does your water usage compare to others in your class?

Be prepared to discuss your findings with the rest of the class!

1 comment:

Joanne Gallagher, csj said...

Dear Dianne,
I just discovered your blog. Great idea. I think I should do the assignment on the excel spreadsheet. I love the name of your blog and invite you to view my blog at http://asisterofstjoseph.blogspot.com/
Keep up the good work -- sjg