Transferring the Data

You'll probably see anywhere from 20 to 100 data entries for individual earthquakes listed for your birthdate. It's unlikely that you will be able to answer the research question by looking at raw data, however. You need to manipulate the data in some way. One way to do this is by plotting the earthquake locations on a world map. You could do this by drawing dots on a paper map, but it is much easier to do with a spreadsheet.

First, transfer the earthquake data into a spreadsheet. (The examples shown here use a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.)

Highlight the data table beginning with the column headings and copy.

Next, open Excel and paste the data into a new spreadsheet. Save the spreadsheet to the desktop, using your name as the filename.

The spreadsheet may not separate the columns correctly. If not, you can select the first column and convert "Text to Columns," a command found under Data on the pull-down menu.

Choose "fixed width," select Next, and the data should be converted neatly into columns.



Now look at the data you have: Year, Month, Day, Origin Time, Latitude, Longitude, Depth, and Magnitude. Obviously, there's more information here than you need to plot the locations of the earthquakes.

Which data do you need to answer the research question: Are earthquakes distributed evenly around the globe or concentrated in specific areas?

Since you will be adding earthquake data for other dates later in the activity, we recommend that you keep the Year, Month, Data, Latitude, and Longitude columns. You may delete all the remaining columns.

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