IT153 · Unit 6

IT153 Unit 6 chart building exercise example

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Twelve months of rides at three docking stations of a composite city bike-share become four charts in the IT153 Unit 6 chart building exercise described here, and each one is chosen for a different question: a line for the seasonal trend, clustered columns for station comparison, a stacked column for rider type, and a pie for the year's split.

What this page holds

Four charts, four questions, one ridership table: the IT153 Unit 6 example reads a composite bike-share's year through ranges that exclude every total. Searches like "it 153 unit 6 assignment example", "it153 unit 6 sample" and "it153 unit 6 example" land here.

What a finished IT153 Unit 6 chart building exercise looks like

The Data sheet holds monthly rides for Riverside, Market Street and University stations in columns B to D, January to December down rows 5 to 16, with a totals row and column kept outside the chart ranges. Columns F and G split each month's rides into members and casual riders. Four charts follow, each on its own chart sheet. A line chart traces all three stations across the year, titled Riverside peaks in July. A clustered column chart compares stations by quarter from a small quarterly summary block. A stacked column chart shows member and casual rides per month. A pie shows the annual split between the two rider types, with percentage labels. Every chart has axis titles where axes exist, a vertical axis starting at zero and alt text describing its finding.

How a IT153 Unit 6 example is structured

The workbook is organized so that each chart reads a range built for it. Monthly data stays in its original shape for the line and stacked charts; a four-row quarterly summary, calculated with SUM from the monthly rows, exists only so the column chart can compare quarters without any arithmetic inside the chart. Totals sit outside every source range, one row below and one column right, with a blank separating them, so no chart can pick them up. Titles state what the chart shows rather than what it contains: University dips in summer, not Ridership by station. Colors stay consistent across charts, Riverside always blue and Market Street always orange, so a reader moving between sheets never relearns the legend. A chart notes tab lists each chart, its exact source range and the question it answers.

Data and summary blocks

Monthly rides by station and by rider type, plus a quarterly block computed from them. Totals are separated by a blank row and column, which keeps them clear of every chart's source range.

Line chart for the trend

Three station lines across twelve months, markers on each point, a vertical axis from zero. The title names the finding, and the legend sits to the right in the same station order as the data.

Columns for comparison and makeup

Clustered columns compare the three stations quarter by quarter from the summary block, with gridlines kept light. Stacked columns, on a separate sheet, show how members and casual riders make up each month.

Pie for the year's split

Two slices, members and casual riders, drawn from the annual totals of columns F and G, with percentage labels. Rider type is the one split here that adds up to a meaningful whole, so it gets the only pie.

Chart notes tab

A short table listing each chart's sheet name, chart type, source range and one-sentence finding, followed by a line on why the vertical axes start at zero rather than at the smallest value.

Where marks go in IT153 Unit 6

Chart exercises lose points where the picture and the data disagree. An axis starting at 900 rides makes a five percent difference look like a doubling, and sections that mention honest presentation deduct for it. A source range that sweeps up the totals row, ending the line in a spike three times December's real height, is the other frequent distortion. The wrong chart type is the next loss: a pie of monthly rides, which are not parts of a meaningful whole, or a line joining stations that have no natural order. Charts made from pasted values stop updating when the data changes, which graders test. Default titles, missing axis titles and legends showing Series1 cost smaller amounts. The charts that score well answer a stated question and still match the data after an input changes.

Get a IT153 Unit 6 example written to your instructions

Some IT153 prompts name the chart types for Unit 6 and others ask for a justified choice; the sample follows whichever yours does. Upload the data set, the chart requirements and the rubric. Charts, source ranges and the notes tab come back within 24-48h, and there is no fee for the first custom sample.

IT153 Unit 6 questions, answered

How do I choose between a line chart and a column chart?

A line suits values that change over an ordered sequence, usually time, where the slope between points means something. Columns suit comparisons between separate categories, such as stations or products, or a small number of periods. If the horizontal axis could be reordered without losing meaning, columns are usually right; if it cannot, a line usually is.

Does the vertical axis always have to start at zero?

For column and bar charts, almost always, because bar length is read as quantity and a cut axis exaggerates differences. Line charts have more latitude, since the eye reads slope rather than height, but many instructors still expect zero unless there is a stated reason. If your chart does not start at zero, a note explaining why protects the choice.

Why did my chart stop matching my data?

Usually because the chart was built from pasted values or a copied picture, so it no longer reads the cells, or because new rows were added outside the chart's source range. Charts built on an Excel table expand automatically as rows are added. Checking the source range against the data, one series at a time, finds the gap quickly.