Late last week Google Spreadsheets received a handy little update. You can now create trendlines in your Google Spreadsheets. Trendlines can be used to illustrate linear and or exponential change in data sets. Trendlines can be added to new and existing charts in your Google Spreadsheets. You can create trendlines by choosing a chart then selecting trendlines from the “customize” tab in the advanced editor. Click here for Google’s step-by-step directions for creating trendlines.

Applications for Education
Using trendlines in Google Spreadsheets could be a great way for students to see how census data changes over time. Trendlines could also be helpful to students who need to create charts to include in presentations.