Create Floor Plans in Excel

Subjects:
Computers & Internet, Math

MATERIALS

Measuring tape

Microsoft Excel

Activities and Procedure:

Have students measure each room in their home using the measuring tape

To create a perfectly square grid in Excel, do the following:

Click on the box to the left of Column A to select all cells.

Click on any of the vertical lines that separate two columns and start dragging left or right.

A tooltip will display on screen, noting width in both inches and pixels – refer only to the number of pixels

Set the pixels to the same width – we found 30 to be useful. When you stop dragging, all columns will be set to the width you chose.

Click on one of the horizontal lines and do the same thing, setting the number of pixels equal to the same number of pixels you used for setting the column width. All rows will be expanded or contracted

Each cell of the Excel spreadsheet should be used to represent 2 feet. Students can adjust the individual cells as needed to fit their measurements (for instance, if they need a single foot, they can adjust that cell’s pixel width to 15×15

Have students shade individual rooms using the paint bucket dropdown – you may set a color scheme for the classroom (all bedrooms should be blue, all kitchens yellow) or let the students choose their own color schemes.

Students will need to include the measurements of each room, and determine the total square footage of their homes.

For historical perspective, you may want to include several floorplans of various homes – an American Craftsman bungalow, a mid-century ranch-style home, and an American Four Square home. You may also want to include the floorplans of several historic homes.