Children

A database is like having a set of information cards, like a Top Trumps pack.

Top Trumps

Have you ever played Top Trumps? With cards like these?

Each card has one thing in the theme of the pack, in this case SPACE. Here we have Mars, Jupiter and the Sun. All are objects in space.

Each card also has information (or data) about the object. Each card shows; temperature, beauty, speed, drive time and size rank. Some of these are measurements, some are estimates and some are opinions. All are numbers, so they can be compared: bigger or smaller?

Let’s look at beauty. This is a ranking number from 1 (the most beautiful) to 30 (the least). It isn’t a measurement, just an opinion.

Let’s see how long it takes us to sort the cards into order from most to least beautiful.

• I will give you a card.
• Look at the number for BEAUTY on your card.
• Work with everyone else to stand in the right order.

How long did that take?

A Database

A database is like a pack of Top Trumps cards on the computer. Each thing has a card with all the information on it. Having them on the computer makes them much quicker to use.

This is because computer programs are really fast at sorting numbers and letters. Their alogrithms can work much faster than a human brain at tasks like that. Do remember that it takes a human brain to design the sorting algorithm in the first place.

Let’s demonstrate!

In Purple Mash, open your 2Do “Sporty Children”.

Here is a database of children. Each child has a card and each card has some information about them. This time the information is what you would expect to find out about children; hair colour, age and so on.

• Can you find out how to sort the list?
• Look at the toolbar and see if you can find a tool that will help.
• Can you add a record for yourself?