Dream Cars Project

This project was created for an 8th grade computer applications course and practices skills learned with spreadsheet
applications. This project could be easily adapted to use Microsoft Office Excel or Google Sheets at various grade levels.

The following skills should be introduced before beginning this project:

 Creating spreadsheets
 Adjusting cell sizes
 Typing on multiple lines within a cell
 Cell shading and borders
 SUM, AVERAGE, MIN, and MAX formulas
 Formulas using = + - * / ( )
 Creating and formatting bar graphs
 Creating graphs using non-connected cells
 Copying and pasting charts to another document

This project contains the following components:

Dream Cars Part I: Students will research three vehicles that they would like to drive.

Dream Cars Part II: Students will create a spreadsheet comparing the three vehicles. They will also create
formulas to calculate the cost per tank of gas, miles per tank of gas, cost per mile, and cost
to drive to a destination of their choice.

Dream Cars Part III: Students will create graphs to visually represent their data.

Dream Cars Summary: Students will create a document summarizing the information that they found. You could
also have them create a presentation.

Dream Cars Extra Credit: This is a component that I offer to students that finish faster than others.
 Dream Cars Part 1
Directions: Use an internet search engine to research and find the answers to the questions below.
www.fueleconomy.gov is a great resource to find information about your vehicles.
www.maps.google.com is a great resource for calculating distances from one location to another.
www.twincitiesgasprices.com is a great resource for finding current gas prices.

Name:

Date:

1.  List three vehicles that you would like to research.

Vehicle A:

Vehicle B:

Vehicle C:

2.  Find the estimated MPG (Miles Per Gallon) for each vehicle.

Vehicle A:

Vehicle B:

Vehicle C:
The MPG is the number of miles that the vehicle can drive with one gallon of gas.

3.  Find the fuel capacity (tank size) for each vehicle.

Vehicle A:

Vehicle B:

Vehicle C:
The fuel capacity is the number of gallons that fit in the gas tank.

4.  How much does a gallon of gasoline cost today?  If you chose any diesel vehicles, also find the current diesel price.

5.  Choose a destination that you visit frequently - must be at least five miles away.
Use Google Maps to calculate the distance to that destination.  

Destination:

Distance (miles):
Dream Cars Part II - Google Sheets
Name:

Date:

Directions:
Use the information that you gathered in Dream Cars Part 1 to complete this assignment.

Step 1: Using Google Sheets, Create the worksheet shown below.

Step 2: Fill in the MPG, Fuel Capacity, Gasoline Cost (same for each vehicle) and Distance to your selected destination
(distance will be the same for each vehicle) that you had recorded on your Dream Car Part 1 assignment.

Step 3: Answer the questions below to determine the equation that must be used when calculating the cost per tank of
gas, miles per tank of gas, cost per mile, and cost to drive to school.   You do not need to actually do the math
here, just explain HOW you will calculate it.
Cost per tank of gas
How will you calculate the cost to fill up the gas tank?

Miles per tank of gas

How will you calculate the number of miles that you can
drive on one tank of gas?

Cost per mile

How will you calculate the cost to drive one mile?

Cost to drive to _______________

How will you calculate the cost to drive to your chosen
destination?

Step 4: Using formulas, calculate the cost per tank of gas, miles per tank of gas, cost per mile, and cost to drive to your
selected destination for each vehicle.

When finished, submit both this Google Doc and your Dream Cars Google Spreadsheet on Schoology.
8th Grade Computer Applications Name:_____________________________________

Dream Car Part III Period:_____________________________________

Directions:
Using Google Sheets, create column charts comparing your three dream cars based on the information that you collected.

Chart 1:
Compare the MPG of each vehicle.
(select the vehicles names column and the MPG column to create this chart)

Chart 2:
Compare the cost per tank of gas for each vehicle.
(select the vehicles names column and the Cost Per Tank column to create this chart)

Chart 3:
Compare the cost per mile for each vehicle.
(select the vehicles names column and the Cost Per Mile column to create this chart)

 Each chart must have a title

 Arrange the charts on the spreadsheet so that the data and the charts are easy to read
 Submit a link to your Google Sheet on Schoology when done
8th Grade Technology Name:_________________________________
Dream Cars
Summary Assignment Period:_________________________________

Directions
Create a Google Document summarizing the data collected and information that you learned during the Dream Cars
project.

You may set up this document however you’d like. Your document must include the following:
 Your Name & the title “Dream Cars Summary”
 List the three vehicles that you researched along with an image of each vehicle
 Copy/Paste the graphs that you created in Dream Cars Part 3 to your document (make sure your graphs have
titles so the read can understand what you are comparing).
 Reflection - Answer the following questions:
o What did you enjoy about this project?
o What new skills did you learn during this project?
o What kinds of calculations did you have to do? What did you learn from this data?
o How might your new knowledge about cost to drive various vehicles be useful in the future?
o How might your new Microsoft Excel & Google Sheets knowledge (formulas and graphing) be useful in
the future?
o What would you do differently if you had the chance to do this project again in the future?

When finished, save as a PDF and submit on Schoology.

8th Grade Technology Name:_________________________________
Dream Cars
Extra Credit Period:_________________________________

You already know how much it costs to drive each of your dream cars one mile, now calculate how much it will cost to
drive to three different dream destinations.

1. Choose three destinations that you would like to visit within the continental United States. (Example: Orlando,
New York City, Los Angeles, Washington DC, etc.)
2. Use Google Maps to calculate the distance (in miles) round-trip to your three destinations.
3. Create an excel spreadsheet and use a formula to calculate the cost to drive to each of the three destinations.
4. Create a graph to display your data.
Extra Credit Example:

I like to challenge the kids and not show them how it should be set up. They will all find different ways to organize their
information and that is okay! If they do struggle, here is an example that you can show them: