In this activity, students use the built-in functions in Excel or Google Sheets to explore different ways of filling in cells with a series of numbers, copying and pasting formulae, and referencing individual cells to use in calculations. Students apply what they learned by making different calculations with beak size measurements of Galapágos finches.

The activity introduces students to basic Excel functions routinely used in scientific research. They use these functions to calculate range, sum of squares, variance, and standard deviation.