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Year 7

Collecting data for a purpose

I can explain the difference between data and information and know that data can come from a range of sources.

icon-background-square
New
New
Year 7

Collecting data for a purpose

I can explain the difference between data and information and know that data can come from a range of sources.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Data is just the raw values and facts, presented without any meaning.
  2. Information is data that has been given structure or meaning.
  3. Data you collect yourself is primary data.
  4. Data collected by others is secondary data.

Keywords

  • Data - facts and figures in their raw form

  • Information - data that has been given structure or meaning

  • Primary - collecting data yourself

  • Secondary - someone else collects the data

Common misconception

Data and information are the same thing.

Data and information are realted but are different. Data is raw facts and figures whilst information is data that has been processed to have meaning.


To help you plan your year 7 computing lesson on: Collecting data for a purpose, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Data collection can be a time consuming process. AI tools are good at generating data and you could create data sets for pupils upon request. If using a spreadsheet, pupils could then copy and paste the data.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

Pupils will require access to a device with software that provides spreadsheet capabilities.

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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the keyword to the correct definition.
Correct Answer:formula,needed to do a calculation, must start with the = symbol
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needed to do a calculation, must start with the = symbol

Correct Answer:cell reference,the location of a cell, made up of a column name and a row number
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the location of a cell, made up of a column name and a row number

Correct Answer:fill tool,a tool that fills the selected cells with repeating values
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a tool that fills the selected cells with repeating values

Q2.
What formula would you put in cell D1?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: =A1C1, =C1A1
Q3.
What formula would you put in cell D2?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: =A2/C2
Q4.
What formula would you put in cell D3?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: =A3+C3, =C3+A3
Q5.
What formula would you put in cell D4?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: =A4-C4
Q6.
What formula would you put in cell D5?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: =A5C5, =C5A5

4 Questions

Q1.
Match the keyword to the definition.
Correct Answer:data,facts and figures
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facts and figures

Correct Answer:information,facts and figures that have been organised so that they have meaning
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facts and figures that have been organised so that they have meaning

Correct Answer:primary,data that you have collected and that you are using yourself
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data that you have collected and that you are using yourself

Correct Answer:secondary,data that somebody else collected and that you are using
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data that somebody else collected and that you are using

Q2.
You are using government statistics on how many children have smartphones. What is this is an example of?
primary data
Correct answer: secondary data
Q3.
You create a poll you give to your class to ask if they have a smartphone. This is data.
Correct Answer: primary
Q4.
Is this data or information?
An image in a quiz
data
Correct answer: information