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Excel can do more than hold figures and formulas. Over one weekend, you can use it to pull NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day into a refreshable image gallery, turn a location list into an interactive Google My Maps layer, or collect other people’s answers through Microsoft Forms and analyze them in a workbook. Together, the projects demonstrate three useful data flows: web to workbook, workbook to map, and respondents to workbook.
Choose a project by the direction your data needs to travel
| Project | Data direction | What you need | Refresh or sync behavior | Visible payoff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NASA APOD gallery | Web to Excel | Excel with Power Query and the IMAGE function, internet access, and an edition that supports the relevant connectors | Refresh the Power Query connection, then refresh the workbook | A browsable table of daily images, titles, dates, and links |
| Google My Maps layer | Excel to map | An XLSX file with one location per row and clear location fields, plus Google My Maps | Reimport the workbook after edits; do not assume automatic synchronization | Clusters, distances, and geographic relationships that are hard to see in rows |
| Forms response workbook | People to Excel | A Microsoft Form, a sharing method, and an Excel destination | Live updating depends on where and how the form was created | Sortable responses, summaries, filters, and charts |
1. Build a refreshable NASA APOD gallery in Excel
This project combines Power Query with Excel’s IMAGE worksheet function. The query brings records into a table; the formula turns each supported image URL into a picture displayed inside a cell.
Prepare the workbook
- Open a blank workbook and choose Data > From Web. Enter the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day data address you intend to use.
- In Power Query, inspect the returned records and expand the fields you need. Keep at least the date, title, and direct image URL.
- Load the result to a worksheet table. Give the image-link column a clear name such as Image URL.
- Add a new column named Image. In the first data row, enter
=IMAGE([@[Image URL]])so the structured reference follows the table as it grows. - Widen the image column and increase row height until the pictures are usable. Keep the date and title columns visible so the gallery remains searchable and readable.
Refresh it for new pictures
Use Data > Refresh All whenever you want to pull the latest records. Power Query’s web connector is account-, edition-, and internet-dependent, so labels and availability can differ between Excel installations.
When an image does not appear
- Check the URL protocol: Microsoft documents IMAGE for HTTPS image sources.
- Check the file type: documented formats include BMP, JPG/JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PNG, ICO, and WEBP. WEBP is not supported in Excel for the web or on Android.
- Look for
#BLOCKED!: external-content or security settings may be preventing the download. - Remove authentication requirements: authenticated image URLs do not render through IMAGE.
- Avoid redirects: Microsoft notes that redirected image URLs are blocked.
The NASA endpoint fields and behavior can change, so treat the column-expansion step as something to verify in your own query rather than a permanent schema guarantee.
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2. Turn an Excel location list into a Google My Maps map
A spreadsheet is good at storing addresses; a map is better at revealing clusters, gaps, and geographic relationships. This project is useful for a road-trip list, service locations, field sites, or places you want to compare visually.
Format the source table for import
- Put one location on each row and use unambiguous headers.
- Keep location information in separate, clearly named fields where possible—for example, place name, street address, city, region, and country.
- Save the workbook as an
.xlsxfile before importing it.
Create the map layer
- Open Google My Maps and create a new map.
- Add a new layer and import the XLSX workbook.
- When My Maps asks which columns identify the locations, select the address or other location fields that provide the best geocoding result.
- Choose the column that should supply marker names, such as a venue or site name.
After the points are placed, you can style markers with different icons, add photos or extra details, and separate categories into multiple layers. Keep the original Excel file as your editable source of record.
Rank #2
Plan for reimports, not live links
The workflow described here does not establish live Excel-to-My-Maps synchronization. If the workbook changes, import the updated file again and review the resulting layer. Google’s current import formats, limits, and interface can change, so check the controls shown in your account rather than relying on an old limit or menu name.
3. Collect responses with Microsoft Forms and analyze them in Excel
Forms lets you collect structured answers without giving every respondent access to your workbook. Excel then becomes the analysis surface for sorting, filtering, summaries, and charts.
Rank #3
- Students build unmatched deductive-reasoning skills as they become crime-solving stars
- Most scenarios have more than one plausible outcome, allowing individuals or groups to broadly interpret evidence
- Includes interpretive handwriting, body language, fingerprinting, and many more activities
Create and distribute the form
- Create a Microsoft Form and add the questions you need. Use consistent answer choices when you expect to group or count responses.
- Use the form’s sharing controls to send the response link to your audience.
- Open the form’s responses area and choose the option to open or export the results in Excel.
- In the workbook, filter columns, sort responses, build summary tables, or create charts for the measures that matter to your project.
Understand the workbook connection
“Open in Excel” does not produce one universal synchronization behavior. Microsoft documents different outcomes based on where the form was created:
- Forms created on the web as personal or group forms can create workbooks in OneDrive for work or school or in SharePoint. Response data can sync, with updates visible when you open the workbook again from Forms or reopen it.
- Forms created in OneDrive for work or school, SharePoint Online, Excel for the web, Teams, or the Forms web part can have a live data connection.
- A form created directly in Microsoft Forms and then opened in Excel may produce a workbook without a live connection.
Before you promise collaborators that a dashboard will update automatically, test the exact creation route and storage location your organization uses.
Make the analysis practical
- Use filters to isolate a date range, team, region, or response category.
- Use a PivotTable or summary formulas to count choices and identify trends.
- Create a chart only after checking that blank, duplicate, or free-text answers will not distort the result.
- Protect the response sheet and place your summaries on a separate sheet if several people will review the workbook.
Which project should you start with?
Choose the APOD gallery if you want a visual automation exercise
It is the clearest demonstration of Power Query importing web data and a worksheet formula rendering remote images. It also gives you a repeatable refresh action to practice.
Choose My Maps if your data is inherently geographic
Mapping is the fastest way to turn a long place list into something you can inspect spatially. It is best when a one-time or occasional reimport is acceptable.
Best Value
- Handy note taking workbook for students
- Use to improve research skills and test scores
- Offers effective strategies and reference section
- Apply to textbooks, novels, research, on-line resources and class lectures
- Illustrates Venn diagrams, webs, tables, lists, summaries and more
Choose Forms if other people are supplying the data
Forms removes the need to distribute an editable spreadsheet and gives you a structured response table. Verify the synchronization route first if the workbook is meant to serve as a live dashboard.
What these weekend projects teach
Excel becomes substantially more useful when it is treated as part of a workflow rather than the final destination. Power Query pulls information in, My Maps gives spreadsheet rows a spatial output, and Forms lets people feed a controlled table that Excel can analyze. The right choice depends less on a clever formula than on whether your data is arriving from the web, leaving for another service, or being supplied by respondents.
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