Excel Graphing Tutorial

    Often the best way to examine data is to graph it.  Graphs are visual diagrams that exhibit a relationship between two sets of numbers or variables.  Geologist Patricia Kelley plotted measurements of internal volume and shell thickness for several genera of bivalves versus the age of the rock layers that contained them. When these graphs were examined, patterns of change in morphology as a function of time appeared.   The following tutorial will help you take the data from Kelley's study, and create several scatter plots (with a best fit line) that allows you to examine changes in internal volume and shell thickness versus age. 

You will need:                                                                                | Home |

• A computer with the Excel program installed on it.
• The data sheet from Kelley (1989) (Download Here)
• Supplemental data, if working from a printout

Last modified October 06 2008 02:19 PM