{"id":83,"date":"2026-01-14T06:50:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T06:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bispcomputingtest.ddns.net\/wordpress\/?page_id=83"},"modified":"2026-01-22T07:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T07:24:15","slug":"skill-4-the-big-four-functions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bisp-digital-literacy.com\/?page_id=83","title":{"rendered":"Skill 4 – The Big Four Functions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\ud83c\udfaf The Goal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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I can use the SUM, AVERAGE, MAX, and MIN functions to analyze large groups of data quickly.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\ud83d\udcd6 The Walkthrough: The Spreadsheet Shortcuts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Imagine you have a list of 1,000 students. You wouldn’t want to type =A1+A2+A3...<\/code> 1,000 times! Instead, we use Functions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every function has a name and a range<\/strong> (the start and end cells).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Function<\/strong><\/td>What it does…<\/strong><\/td>Example<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
SUM<\/strong><\/td>Adds everything together.<\/td>=SUM(B2:B10)<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
AVERAGE<\/strong><\/td>Finds the “middle” or mean value.<\/td>=AVERAGE(B2:B10)<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
MAX<\/strong><\/td>Finds the highest number in the list.<\/td>=MAX(B2:B10)<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
MIN<\/strong><\/td>Finds the lowest number in the list.<\/td>=MIN(B2:B10)<\/code><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\ud83d\udce5 The Starter File<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Download the “House Points Leaderboard”<\/strong> below. It contains a list of students and the points they have earned for their houses this term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Download House Points Leaderboard<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u2705 The Checklist: Your Task<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Scroll to the bottom of the data table and find the Summary Box<\/strong>. Use your new skills to fill it in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Total Points:<\/strong> Use =SUM(B2:B50)<\/code> to find out how many points were earned in total.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Average Score:<\/strong> Use =AVERAGE(B2:B50)<\/code> to see the typical score per student.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Top Performer:<\/strong> Use =MAX(B2:B50)<\/code> to find the highest score achieved.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Lowest Score:<\/strong> Use =MIN(B2:B50)<\/code> to find the lowest score.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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    \ud83c\udfc6 Level Up! (Extension)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n