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Microsoft Office is software for creating word documents, data collections, presentations, and much more. Office is actually several programs offered in one package. Individual programs include Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. We will be using Word and Excel to create our graphs. Excel is a powerful spread sheet that can be used to record data. It includes tools for creating displays and making graphs. While we'll be utilizing Excel's functions, we'll actually be working through Word.

Click on either of the links below for video instructions. For written instructions, continue down the page.

When you first open Word, you may be prompted to choose a template. Just choose a blank template to work from.

From the main ribbon (the tabs across the top row), choose 'Insert'. Under the Insert tab, click on 'Chart'. You should be prompted to choose a chart type. For rate of change, we'll be using an X Y Chart, also known as a Scatter Chart.

Once you've inserted the X Y Chart, an Excel chart should have now appear in your Word document. On that chart, you should see a header for x values and a header for y values. For the first x and y values, enter the first coordinate from our example problem. On the second line of x and y values, enter the second coordinate.

Once you've entered the coordinates into the data window, you can close the window. Back in Word, you should find that a scatter chart has been inserted with two points. Those points are the points made from the coordinates we entered.

On the graph, right click on one of the plotted points from our coordinates. A drop down menu should appear. From this menu, select 'Add Trendline'.

A line should have appeared now between your two points. You should also now see options for the line. Under the options, check the box next to 'Display Equation on Chart'.

Once you've check the box by 'Display Equation on Chart', you should have a line and equation displayed on your graph. The equation should be written in Slope-Intercept Form, y = mx + b. Remember that the slope of the line, m, is always paired with the x variable. To find your rate of change, look for the m value; this is your rate of change.