Excel Day 3: Functions

Objectives

• Students will understand the basic syntax of formulas and functions
• Students will understand the uses of functions and how to use them in various scenarios 

Outline

Hook: Show the finished Day 3 files

Introduction

• Has anyone used Excel since last class?
• Does anyone have any questions since last time?

Function/Formula syntax

• Difference between a function and a formula
• Syntax of functions
  • =FUNCTIONNAME (Press tab to auto-start the function)
  • Commas separate different attributes/inputs of functions
• Multiple ways to enter functions
  • Formula bar
  • Straight into the cell (shortcut F2)
  • Formula tab, by category
• Getting help with functions (Google, YouTube, Microsoft Website)
• Formula builder in Excel

Possible functions you could teach (you do not need to teach all of these functions, choose a few based off of the interests of the students):

IF function

• Go over some daily scenarios that involve if/then thinking (e.g. wearing a jacket if it’s cold)
• Write out on board the parts/sections of the function

IFS Function

• Formerly Nested IF functions
• Use when checking for multiple criterias (if it is cold AND snowing, wear a coat rather than a jacket)

COUNT function

• Counts the number of cells in a range that contain numbers.

SUMIF function

• Absolute references save you a lot of time
• Copy and paste these functions down and across
• COUNTIF works the same way

Continue learning about functions

• Functions that work similarly to the ones we have learned in this class:
  • HLookup
  • XLookup
  • Index/Match

You can also include named ranges if you have time

Conclusion

• Recap:
  • Apply functions to everyday situations
• Next time
  • Charts and Graphs
  • Printing
• Help desk/Instagram/Upcoming classes