Using Excel to Create an Interactive Map

1. Locate an image that you would like to use and save it to your desktop.
2. Open a new worksheet in Excel.
3. Press Ctrl + A or click the Select All area (the blank area above row 1 and to the left of column A) to select the entire worksheet.

4. Change the size of the cells to give more precise control to the comments that you will later add. With the entire worksheet selected, click Format » Column » Width. Type "2" for the new width and click OK.
5. Click Format » Sheet » Background and browse for the image that you saved on your desktop. Press Insert to use the image as a background.
6. You will notice that the image repeats throughout the spreadsheet. If the size of your images is smaller than you need, undo the last step. Open the image in a photo editor such as Photoshop or Microsoft Photo Editor. Choose Image » Resize and increase the width to about 9 inches (the height will adjust accordingly). Save the image and retry step 5.
7. Once the image is the right size, you'll need to hide the rest of the repeating images. To do this, you will use the rectangle shape from the drawing toolbar. If you do not see the drawing toolbar along the edge of your page, click View » Toolbars. Click on Drawing to display the toolbar.

8. Now choose the Rectangle tool and draw a box to cover the extra images to the right of the first image. The exact size of the rectangle does not matter as long as it will cover the extra images when cell A1 is visible. The Fill Color tool (paint can icon) can be selected to fill the covering rectangle with black. Repeat this step to cover the repeating images below the first image.
9. Right click on any cell and select Insert Comment. This will cause a red triangle to appear in the cell and a text box in which you can write a comment. You can change the comment at any time by right-clicking the same cell and choosing Edit Comment.
10. If you would like to change the shape of the comment box, right click and select Edit Comment. When the comment box appears, click on the edge of the box and the border will become dotted rather than cross-slashed. Now click the word Draw on the Drawing toolbar, then select Change AutoShape to choose another shape.
11. To make your spreadsheet look more like a map, let’s remove some options. Click Tools » Options. Under the View tab, click the check boxes to remove the checks from the following: Gridlines, Row & column headers, Horizontal scroll bar, and Vertical scroll bar.

Teaching Suggestions

• An image could be set up with placeholders for the comments, and students could go in and add comments about certain elements of the image or map.
• This could be used as an interactive review sheet, where the teacher inserts the comments for students to review by moving the mouse over the cells with comments.
• Students can be given the above instructions with a specific topic to illustrate or create a map for. Finished projects can then be presented to the rest of the class.
• An interactive spreadsheet can be projected as a teaching aid, or as an object used to review.

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