How-To: Insert a Diagram into a Word 2002 Document

Curriculum Area: English/ Mathematics/ Studies of Society and Environment/ Science 

Grade Level: Yrs 2 and up

Application: Microsoft Word 2002

Tip: Insert a diagram into a Word document.

Description: Students select a diagram type (Organisation Chart, Cycle, Radial, Pyramid, Venn, or Target) and insert it into their Word document.

Insert a Diagram into a Word Document

Classroom Applications:

English:
  • Insert a Radial diagram to show the important characteristics of the main character in a book or to show the five lines of a cinquain poem.
  • Insert a Venn diagram to show the similarities and differences among the characters or events in a book.
Studies of Society and Environment:
  • Insert an Organisation Chart to show the three main branches of our government and their main functions (see sample below).
Mathematics:
  • Insert a Radial diagram to show the factors or multiples of a number.
Science:
  • Insert a Cycle diagram to show an example of a food chain.
  • Insert a Pyramid diagram to show the food pyramid.
  • Insert a Radial diagram showing the signs of spring.
Sample Organisation Chart:



How To:
  1. Plan out your diagram on paper first, making sure to think about all of the words you need to type in the diagram as well as the shape that would best display your ideas or concept.
  2. Start Microsoft Word 2002, and make sure a new document is visible.
  3. Type any text you may need in your document such as a title or an introductory paragraph.
  4. Position the insertion point where you would like the diagram to begin, and then click the Insert Diagram or Organisation Chart button on the Drawing toolbar.
  5. From the Diagram Gallery, select the type of diagram you need to insert into your document, and then click OK.
  6. Enter your own text in each part of the diagram by clicking the "Click to add text" place holders and typing your text. Be sure to format the text to best fit your diagram, using attractive fonts, appropriate sizes, colours, and style options.
  7. Explore different colours and patterns for the parts of the diagram (the shapes) by double-clicking any section. Click the Colours and Lines tab in the Format Diagram dialog box to make your selections. You can even change the appearance of the background of the diagram (the empty space behind the diagram) by double-clicking on the white background.

Additional Features:
  • If you need to add more sections and their corresponding shapes to the diagram (that is, more areas in which to type), just click the Insert Shape button on the Diagram toolbar.
  • Rearrange the order of the sections by clicking either the Move Shape Backward or Move Shape Forward button on the Diagram toolbar.
  • Explore the Scale Diagram and other options under the Layout button on the Diagram toolbar. You can even resize the whole diagram by clicking Scale Diagram and dragging one of the resizing handles (the small, hollow circles at the outer edges of the diagram). Your diagram will resize and scale itself each time you resize it.
  • The AutoLayout option under the Layout button lets you resize each of the sections of the diagram, independent of the other shapes. This feature allows you to make one part larger or smaller than another. You can even move a shape or a line to a new location by dragging from the outer edge of the shape (not the hollow circles in the corners, but the edge of the box around the shape).


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