Open a new Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. You will see columns labeled A, B, C and so on. The cells below each column will serve as the holding places for your population data. For this exercise, you will enter a different population into the first cell of each column from A to L, so that each cell represents a month of a certain year. This population graph will track population changes over time by looking at the changes month by month. Enter the population for January in A1, using a figure such as 100000.
Press "Tab." Enter the population for February in B1, such as 120000. Press "Tab." Enter the population for March in C1, such as 121000. Press "Tab." Continue in this manner until you have entered all of the population data.
Press "Command" and "A" on a Macintosh computer and "Control" and "A" on a Windows computer to highlight all of your data in blue. Press "Insert" on your toolbar.
Select "Column." Press the icon of a column graph that you like. Immediately,
Excel will transform your population data into a 12-month graph showing the rise
and fall of populations over time.