WHAT TO DO!

Day of the Event

When you are actually in the room taking the exam there are some very important things to consider as you work through the task:

• Read the Directions including the rubric (once, twice, its worth the time) Your proctor may even give a reading period and you need to use it.
• Identify the problems that may take longer and also the problems that you can solve quickly. You do not have to create your graph and data table before the questions. These questions are generally half your score and may be much easier to find and possibly even lead you to find the major data for your graph. This is why you should read the rubric if its provided and know the point scale…sometimes you can even get points for a blank graph that has an appropriate title.
• Don’t Panic and get as many points as you can in the time allotted. If you have practiced searching for data and know excel you will do fine.
• if a search isn’t working change the terms…a good rule of thumb was that if there was nothing in the first three results, move on with new search terms.
• Use your partner, because the person sitting next to you can think of new search terms, write down data to be transferred, etc. Your partner can also be especially useful in reading directions and making sure you didn’t miss anything (this is key for graphs–as the proctor may want data in alphabetical order or something that is not always typical)
• Know your partner and work well with them having an enemy as a partner is not going to be helpful
• Read everything on the exam sheet make sure you do not forget to put on data labels or put it in alphabetical order or specific font types and formating your answer sheet. This especially applies to the graph portion of the test. You do not want to lose points for stuff that if you read the exam could have been done quickly and easily.

Make sure your partner reads over EVERYTHING that you have entered into the data table, the graph, and the short answer questions. Keep working, even up to the last second. Use the tiebreaker (graphical appeal) to your advantage.

HOW TO USE EXCEL (FROM SCIOLY WIKI)

So, say we have two cells, A1 and A2. A1 contains the number 45, and A2 the number 5.32. I want to do something with them, so I select an empty cell, C3. To signal to Excel that I want to create a formula, I begin by typing an equals sign. Then, if I want to add the two together, I enter A1+A2. In the cell now should be “=A1+A2”. I hit enter, and Excel takes the values from A1 and A2 and adds them together. I can do the same for any other basic math operation; be warned, multiplication is not “x”. Multiplication is *, division is /. I could also just do “=45+5.32”, but the other way allows me change the original numbers without changing the formula.
But what if I want to take the average of the two numbers? I could write a cell “=(A1+A2)/2”, but that’s extra work, and if I want to add another number, I have to change both parts of the formula. Instead, I can use a function. In this case, the average function. Functions have a given syntax, or the required way that you need to enter the data into it. Once I type in “=Average(A1, A2)”, it will calculate the average. If I have another number in A3, I can simply do “=Average(A1, A2, A3)”.
The Excel help file lists the syntax as AVERAGE(number1, [number2], …). First, it gives me what I need to type before I open the parenthesis to signal the proper function (in this case AVERAGE). After I open the parenthesis, I enter at least one number. Any items within brackets [ ] are optional. So I could take the average of one number, but why would I do that? Probably I’ll want even more than two. Thus, the ellipsis. It means that I can continue to add terms ad infinitum in the same way to get the average of all those terms. I then close the parenthesis when I have completed the function. Once you understand the logic behind the syntax, you can figure out any of the functions listed in the Excel help file. It is even possible to create formulas of multiple functions at once and formulas with functions within functions. But remember, you only ever need to put the opening equals sign at the beginning of the formula, not at the beginning of each separate function.

Tough Stuff in Excel

Sometimes you will find a test that says “line on two axis” and ask yourself, “What the heck is that???” Follow this simple guide (with pictures!!) to learn. NOTES: In this example, I use Office 2007, but older versions shouldn’t be too different. I made a simple graph of the 4 inner planets, their rotation period, and distance from the sun. We want the distance from the sun to be a bar graph, and the rotation period to be a line graph.

1.Make your graph. First you need data to input, right? In this case we have the four inner planets, their rotation period, and distance from the sun.

2.Turn it into a chart. Highlight your chart, then click on insert–>column to make your chart.

3.Separate the second data set Click on the chart, and something new appears: cart tools. Click on layout, and over to the far left, you will see “cart area”. Change this to the data set you want to change; in this case, distance. After you have done this, click on “Format Selection” and a new window will appear. Just select “secondary axis”, and click ok.

4.Change appearance You’re almost done! Now click on “Design”, and then “Change Chart Type”. Select the data type you want, in this case Line, and click o.k. You’re done!

Tips

“If you use the words site:nasa.gov in your search from any online search engines, you only get results from NASA. It’s much more efficient and sites like Bing give better results than NASA anyway.”

Useful Links

http://scioly.org/wiki/Compute_This

http://www.nasa.gov/

http://soinc.org/compute_this_b

http://websearch.about.com/od/internetresearch/a/boolean.htm

http://www.bettersolutions.com/excel/EDH113/YI521110881.htm

Compute This Rules Fo Shiz (editedddd)

APPROXIMATE TIME

50 Minutes

THE COMPETITION

c. The problem statement will require the capture of quantitative information from the Internet followed by spreadsheet data entry and graphical presentation. A specific chart format (eg line chart, pie chart, stacked column chart, etc) will be defined in the problem statement. All charts must include labeling for each axis (including units of measure) and legends to properly label data within the chart

d. The problem statement will also include up to 5 short answer questions.Where additional searches are required, teams will be asked to list the specific source URL associated with each answer. The URL must be complete and must point within the http://www.nasa.gov/ domain.

e. construct an MS Excel (.xls) file that contains the data tables and graphics associated with the problem and an MS Word (.doc) file that contains the answers and URLS associated with the short answer questions. Teams should include their school name and team number (as appropriate) within both files to ensure proper identification

SCORING

High score wins based on a-c.

a. Completeness and Accuracy of Quantitative Data Collected- 20 pts

b. Completeness, Accuracy, and Format of Graphical Data Presentation- 30 pts

c. Answers and URLs Associated with Short Answer Questions- 50 pts

d. The tiebreakers shall be:

i. The number of short answer questions correctly answered

ii. The completeness and accuracy of quantitative data collected

iii. The overall quality of graphical data presentation

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