Saving for Web Publication
Entering Data
- Enter months of year in the first row of the spreadsheet, average precipitation per month in the second row, average monthly temperature in the third row.
- If you have more than one set of data (either from multiple locations or different years), enter them in subsequent pairs of rows. You may wish to add a label at the beginning or end of the row to easily identify the data.
- If appropriate, use Excel's "SUM" or "AVERAGE" functions to total the precipitation for the year or calculate the average temperature.
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A
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B
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C
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D
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E
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F
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G
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H
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I
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J
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K
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L
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M
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N
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O
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P
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Q
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1
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Month
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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8
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9
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10
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11
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12
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Average
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Average formula
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Total
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Total formula
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2
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Ppt-Location A
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4.2
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3
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4.5
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5
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4.6
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5.7
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4
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3.3
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2.1
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3.2
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2.9
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2.6
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3.8
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Average(B2:M2)
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45.1
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Sum(B2:M2)
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3
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Temp-Location A
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32
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35
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42
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55
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63
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74
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76
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73
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68
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58
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43
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34
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54.4
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Average(B3:M3)
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Plotting Seasonal Fluctuations in Temperature and Rainfall
- Highlight cells containing precipitation and temperature data to be plotted. Do not highlight row containing months.
- Click on "Chart Wizard" button on toolbar (or go to Insert menu and select "Chart").
- Click on Custom types tab and select Line - Column 2 Axes Graph. Click Next.
- The next window will define the data to be plotted. The Data range that shows up automatically should correspond to the rows you highlighted in step 1.
- Click on the "Series Tab." This will allow you to define which set of data are plotted as points and which are plotted as bars. If you have followed the steps above, the two sets of data should be defined appropriately for this graph. You will likely want to change the series names to Precipitation and Temperature (rather than Series 2 and Series 1 respectively). Whatever you enter here as "Name" will be used as the labels in the legend.
- You want to have the X-axis labeled with the months of the year. To do this, click on the box to the right of "Category X axis labels" box. This will take you to the spreadsheet. Click and drag over the months of the year in the first row of your spreadsheet. Click again on the box to the right and notice that the labels have been inserted. Click Next. (Notice you can also go Back at any point if necessary).
- The next screen will allow you to add a title and labels to the axes of your graph. Enter "Months of Year" in Category (X) axis box. Enter "Average Precipitation, Units" in Value (Y) axis box. Enter Average Temperature, Unit" in Second Value (Y) axis box. Notice that the labels are added as you do this. You may modify simply by changing the text. Clicking on the other tabs at this step will allow you to modify such things as what grid lines are shown, the position of the legend, and whether or not a data table or data labels are shown. Feel free to try things out and see how they look. Modifications appear instantly in the "mock-up" chart and can easily be undone. When you are satisfied with the look of your graph, click on Next.
- The last step allows you to define whether the graph appears on the spreadsheet or on a separate page. Select whatever is appropriate. Give it an identifying name and click Finish. Your final graph will appear on your screen.
- Keep in mind that you can still make modifications to your graph. Simply click on the element of the graph you'd like to change (e.g., an axis, the line or bars, the labels) and then go to the Format menu. Select "Selected ***" and use the tools provided to make the necessary modifications. The Chart menu will allow you to change the type of chart you've made, to select different data from your spread sheet or to modify the labels, gridlines etc. on the chart.
- Keep in mind that the graph and the spreadsheet are linked, so if you change the values in those same cells of the spreadsheet, the chart will be updated automatically to reflect that change.
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Plotting Precipitation vs. Temperature (Climatograph)
- Highlight cells containing precipitation and temperature data to be plotted. Do not highlight row containing months.
- Click on "Chart Wizard" button on toolbar (or go to Insert menu and select "Chart").
- Click on Standard types tab and select XY (Scatter) Graph. Select scatter graph with points connected by lines. Click Next.
- The next window will define the data to be plotted. The Data range that shows up automatically should correspond to the rows you highlighted in step 1.
- Click on the "Series Tab." This will allow you to define which set of data is plotted along the X axis and which is plotted along the y-axis. If you have followed the steps above, the two sets of data should be defined appropriately for this graph (precipitation along the x-axis and temperature along the y). If not, you can easily redefine the data by entering the cell numbers manually or simply clicking on the button to the right of the box. This button will take you to the spreadsheet and allow you to click and drag to define the range. Once your data are defined appropriately. Click Next. (Notice you can also go Back at any point if necessary).
- The next screen will allow you to add a title and labels to the axes of your graph. Enter "Average Precipitation, Units" in Value (X) axis box. Enter Average Temperature, Unit" in Second Value (Y) axis box. Notice that the labels are added as you do this. You may modify simply by changing the text. Clicking on the other tabs at this step will allow you to modify such things as what grid lines are shown, the position of the legend, and whether or not a data table or data labels are shown. Feel free to try things out and see how they look. Modifications appear instantly in the "mock-up" chart and can easily be undone. When you are satisfied with the look of your graph, click on Next.
- The last step allows you to define whether the graph appears on the spreadsheet or on a separate page. Select whatever is appropriate. Give it an identifying name and click Finish. Your final graph will appear on your screen.
- You can still make modifications to your graph at this point if desired. Simply click on the element of the graph you'd like to change (e.g., an axis, the line or bars, the labels) and then go to the Format menu. Select "Selected ***" and use the tools provided to make the necessary modifications. The Chart menu will allow you to change the type of chart you've made, to select different data from your spread sheet or to modify the labels, gridlines etc. on the chart.
- Keep in mind that the graph and the spreadsheet are linked, so if you change the values in those same cells of the spreadsheet, the chart will be updated automatically to reflect that change.
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Superimposing Climatographs
- Enter data for different biomes on a single spreadsheet. Make sure that the precipitation is in the first row and the temperature data in the second for each data set.
- Highlight the first two rows of data cells and follow the steps above to plot the climatograph for one of the biomes. Be sure you name the Series in step #5 with the location or the biome.
- Now we are going to add additional climatographs to this chart. Go to Chart menu on the toolbar and select "Source Data."
- This will open up the windows that allow you to define the data being plotted. Click on the Series tab and click on the "Add" button.
- Define the data for the next biome by clicking on the button to the right of the X and Y boxes. This will take you to the spreadsheet and allow you to cick and drag to define the data to be plotted. Be sure you name each series with its biome or geographic location. These names will appear in the legend.
- Continue to "Add" new series in this manner (steps 4 and 5) until the data for all of the biomes has been defined. A mock-up of each line is drawn as you add the new data sets. Notice that the program automatically adjusts the scale on the axes to accommodate each added set of values.
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Saving for Web Publication
- Once all of the data has been entered and charts prepared. Simply go to the File menu and select "Save as Web Page."
- This will create a folder of html files corresponding to the spreadsheets you have created and gif files of the charts.
- You may wish to rename these items so that their identity is more apparent. The charts can be placed as images into other html files.
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