MICROSOFT EXCEL · END OF CLASS ASSIGNMENT
Excel Formatting
& Formulas Task
Introductory level · Individual work · Present next lesson
You will create an Excel spreadsheet on any topic of your choice — a budget, a shopping list, a class
timetable, a sports table, sales figures, anything. The content does not matter. What you are being
assessed on is how well you apply the Excel skills taught in today's lesson.
ASSIGNMENT TASKS
01 ⌨️ Entering & editing data Foundational
→ Create a new blank workbook and give your spreadsheet a clear title in row 1
→ Enter at least 10 rows of data with a minimum of 4 columns
→ Include a header row with clear, descriptive column labels
→ Edit at least 3 cells after entering data — practice using F2 to edit in place
→ Use Delete and Backspace correctly — know the difference
💡 Good data entry example: a sales table with columns for Product, Month, Units Sold, and Price
02 🎨 Basic formatting Foundational
→ Apply bold to your header row
→ Change the font size of the title to at least 14pt
→ Apply a background fill colour to the header row
→ Change the font colour of the header text to white or a contrasting colour
→ Apply borders to all data cells — use All Borders from the border dropdown
→ Centre-align your header row text
→ Format any number columns as Currency or Number with 2 decimal places
→ Sort your data A–Z on a text column (e.g. by name or product) — Data → Sort
→ Sort largest to smallest on a number column (e.g. highest sales first)
→ Add Filter dropdowns to your header row — Data → Filter
→ Use the filter to show only one category of data, then clear the filter to show all again
→ Take a screenshot showing your filter applied
💡 Always click inside your data before sorting — Excel needs to know which table to sort
07 📊 Basic charts Core skill
→ Select your data and insert a Bar or Column chart — Insert → Charts
→ Give your chart a clear title that describes what it shows
→ Label both axes so the reader knows what they are looking at
→ Change the chart colour or style using the Chart Design tab
→ Move the chart so it does not overlap your data — click and drag it below the table
💡 Select your labels column AND your numbers column together (hold Ctrl to select non-adjacent columns)
before inserting the chart
08 🌈 Conditional formatting Bonus skill
→ Select a column of Highlight — e.g. highlight values greater than a certain number in green —
numbers and apply Cell Rules Home → Conditional Formatting
→ Apply a Colour Scale to a number column so low values appear red and high values appear green
→ Apply Data Bars to visually show the size of each number inside the cell
💡 Conditional Formatting is found in the Home tab — it automatically colours cells based on their values, no
manual work needed
SUBMISSION CHECKLIST
Title row entered 10+ rows of data with 4+ columns
Header row bold + fill colour Font colour + borders applied
Currency / number formatting Columns AutoFitted
=SUM() formula used =AVERAGE() formula used
=COUNT() formula used =MAX() and =MIN() used
AutoFill used for a formula AutoFill used for a series
Data sorted A–Z and by number Filter applied + screenshot taken
Bar or column chart inserted Chart titled + axes labelled
Conditional formatting applied Saved as .xlsx
NOT SURE ABOUT SOMETHING?
That's completely fine — bring it to the next lesson.
Today was your first Excel session. Do as much as you can. If you get stuck on any of the following, don't stress
— we will go through them together next class:
Conditional formatting Colour scales & data bars Filter options Chart axis labels
MAX / MIN formulas Number formatting AutoFit columns Moving charts
NEXT LESSON
You will present your spreadsheet to the class
Have your finished Excel file open and ready to share your screen. Be prepared to walk the class through
your data, your formulas, and your chart — and explain why you made the choices you did.
SHOW EXPLAIN DEMO LIVE
Your completed spreadsheet Two formulas you used — what Apply a filter or sort in front of
open and visible on screen they do and how you wrote the class to show it working
them