Finding things out

We live in an information rich society. Today, many work roles are dependent on the ability to access and retrieve data to answer a query, gain a performance overview or analyse trends over time. In preparing our children to become economically active in the society of the future, we need to provide opportunities to handle data to support research in a variety of curriculum contexts. Teaching in ICT must develop the understanding, skills and strategies that pupils need to retrieve relevant, accurate, unbiased information from electronic sources.

Pupils need to understand the advantages of storing, searching, sorting and displaying electronic data in electronic formats. They need to appreciate the limitations imposed by poor database design, and the risks presented by inaccurate, biased data.

At Key Stage 2, pupils are learning what questions they can ask and which tools to use to find answers. They are beginning to develop the process skills of enquiry: they can plan and carry out an investigation, knowing that they can only ask about the data stored in the file, shaping their questions around the record/field structure. They can predict likely outcomes, and use their prediction to check the validity of results.

It is vitally important that pupils develop a good understanding of the link between naturally-expressed questions and appropriate retrieval tools. If we ask “Which was the hottest day?” do pupils know that the quickest way to find out is to sort the ‘temperature' column, with highest first? We believe that the ability to match the language of the question to the appropriate tool is FAR MORE IMPORTANT at Key Stage 2 than learning how to use ‘OR' in searches. Logical search operators are covered in Year 8! Click here for a fuller discussion of QCA Unit 5B, and Kent's revised expectations.

Databases across the Curriculum

ICT Units

Key Stage 2 data handling:
A development of the QCA units (Units 3C, 4D and 5B), with integrated tasks in subject contexts

Year 3 - Introduction to Databases Lesson plans

Spreadsheet Modeling using Excel - Year 6 Assessment

Analysing Data -Year 5 Assessment

Science

Using a Database in a Friction Investigation - Cliftonville Primary School

The stages in Introducing a Database - Rocks

History

Investigating and Comparing 1841 and 1871 Census Data - Guston CEP School

Numeracy

Handling Data in the Numeracy Hour

Excel Spreadsheets to download and use in your lessons

Ways of using Excel in the Numeracy Hour

Spreadsheets in Mathematics

Olympic Theme

Olympics Data Handling project

Olympic Data Handling using Information Workshop - St Mary's Primary School, Folkestone

Data handling with excel on an Olympic theme - St Mary's Primary School, Folkestone

Help

Information Magic tutorial:
can also be used with Information Workshop and First Workshop

Pick a Picture in Key Stage 1 - St Mary's Primary School, Folkestone