Lesson video

Welcome to this Oak National Academy lesson which is called "Computer databases" and is taken from the unit Flat-file databases.

I'm delighted you've chosen to join me today for this lesson, and I look forward to learning along with you today.

Let's get started.

The outcome of today's lesson is that you'll be able to navigate and sort data in a computer-based database using different views.

We have two keywords in this lesson.

So the first keyword is field, and a field is a category of data in each record.

And a view.

A view is a way of presenting data that has been sorted and organised.

So there's our keywords, field and view.

We've got two learning cycles in this lesson.

So first you will navigate and sort a computer database and then you'll compare views of a database.

Let's begin with that first learning cycle, Navigate and sort a computer database.

So what is a database? And we've got a couple of answers here.

So one from Sam, who says, "A database is an organised collection of data." And Sofia says, "A database is stored in a computer and can be easily used and added to." So let's remember those two explanations of what a database is as we go through the lesson.

So this is a record from a paper-based database.

So here you've got a record representing an animal, which is an antelope.

And on this record we've got various different attributes which are either ticked or not for an antelope.

So lives in large groups is ticked and is more than one colour is ticked.

However, can fly and has six legs are not ticked.

This is what a record from a computer database can look like.

So each record contains data about one animal, and each category of data is stored in fields.

So let's have a look at those fields in a bit more detail now.

Each record in the paper database has five fields.

So we've got whether it can fly or not, if it lives in large groups.

Does it have six legs? Is it more than one colour? And finally, its name.

So the paper database has five fields.

And each record in the computer database also has five fields.

So let's look at those fields.

So first of all, we've got a field for minibeast, and next to that is the name of the minibeast.

Then we have a field for picture.

And in that we've got a picture of the minibeast stored.

We've got a field for how many legs the minibeast has.

Does it have wings? And finally, does it have a shell? So there's our five fields for the computer database.

So time for a check.

What is a field in a database? Is it A, one row of information about an item; B, a box for typing your name; C, a category of data in each record; or D, a type of data file? Well done.

The correct answer is C.

A field is a category of data in each record.

Now open the computer database oak.

link/minibeasts.

So that link again is oak.

link/minibeasts.

And the database you should now be in has tabs at the top.

So we've got tabs for define, form, table, chart, and options.

Sofia points out the tabs let you navigate to see different views of the data.

So let's have a look.

In the next slide, I'm going to show you an animation of how data can be viewed in different ways.

So we begin with the form view.

And then we can click on table.

So the table view gives us a view of more than one record at a time.

If we go back to the form view, we can see all the information about one particular record.

And then from within the form view you can click on to different records.

You can go forwards or backwards.

And then back to the table view.

And here we can see more than one record in one view.

When you use a computer database, you can view the data in different ways.

A view is a way of presenting data that's been sorted and organised.

This means that the original data is now information that can be used.

To see this for yourself, click on the table tab to open the view.

In the table view, click on the field names, so that's in the column headings, to sort the data.

So the column headings we have here are: minibeast, picture, how many legs, does it have wings, and does it have a shell.

So if you click on any of those column headings, it will sort the data by that heading.

So there's our column headings.

Click once to sort low or high or A to Z.

Click again to sort high to low or Z to A.

If we click once, we'll sort the data from A to Z in minibeast.

And if you click again, you'll sort it from Z to A.

If you click on how many legs once, you'll go from high to low, then again from low to high.

Fill in the blanks.

To find out which minibeast has the most legs, I would sort the database by the blank field in blank order.

Once the sort has been completed, the minibeast with the most legs will be shown at the blank of the table.

And you've got three words to fill in, and the words are: legs, top, and descending.

Let's have a look at the answers.

To find out which minibeast has the most legs, I would sort the database by the legs field in descending order.

Once the sort has been completed, the minibeast with the most legs will be shown at the top of the table.

Now let's move on to task A.

Open the minibeast database.

So that's from this link, which is oak.

link/minibeasts.

That's oak.

link/minibeasts.

Sort the table view to find the following answers.

One, which minibeast has the most legs? Two, which minibeast has the fewest legs? Three, which minibeast name is the first alphabetically? And four, which minibeast name is the last alphabetically? Here's the answers.

So number one, which minibeast has the most legs? The woodlouse has the most legs.

Question two, which minibeast has the fewest legs? The slug and the snail both have no legs.

Question three, which minibeast name is first alphabetically? That's the ant.

And which minibeast name is last alphabetically? That's the woodlouse.

Let's move on to the second learning cycle, which is to compare views of a database.

So on your computer, open the link oak.

link/countries.

That's oak.

link/countries.

And here you can see a record from that database.

And on this database we've got details about different countries.

So here you can see some information about the country South Africa.

Another way to sort data is using the form view.

So click on the form tab to open the form view.

Once you're in the form view, to sort the data, use the dropdown menu to select the field you want to sort by.

So there's the dropdown menu and here's the fields you can sort by.

Once you've sorted the data, the records will be displayed in order.

This time, the database has been sorted by country name, and record 1 of 24 is Austria.

So Austria is the first country alphabetically.

If you click again, the arrow will switch the sorting order from low or high, or A to Z, or Z to A.

So this time we've got the last country alphabetically shown as the first record, which is the United States.

Here's an animation to see how data can be sorted and viewed.

So we are now ordered by country name, and we can go through and look at the different records.

So alphabetically by country name.

We can switch that to descending alphabetical order.

Or we can switch the search to say population.

So China has the largest population, and Hong Kong has the lowest population.

Time for a true or false question.

A view is another word for a database.

Is that true or false? Well done, that's false.

But can you explain why? That's right, a view shows how data appears in a database, such as in a table view or a form view.

So Laura has a question, and her question is, "Is it better to use a form view or a table view?" And Jacob has an answer.

He says, "It depends on what you're trying to find." The table view shows lots of records at the same time.

It could be really useful to use a table view when you want to either sort the data, for example, from biggest to smallest, or if you want to compare lots of information quickly, if you want to find the highest or lowest value, or if you want to see everything at once.

So you can see in this table view, you can see four of the records all at once.

So you can see the records for a bumblebee, an ant, a butterfly, and a caterpillar all at once.

That's not all the records in the database, but it does enable you to see more than one at once.

The table view is also good for finding the highest or lowest value.

So Laura asks, "So if I wanted to find the minibeast with the most legs.

." And Jacob says, "You can use the table view and sort to put the highest legs first." The form view shows one record at a time, like a card for each item.

Use the form view when you want to look at the full details of a single record, if you want to read all the information carefully, or if you want to focus on one item at a time.

So we've got a form view here of the record for South Africa.

So on that form view, we can see the country name, the area in kilometres squared, the population, the language, the flag, and the currency.

And we can see that all in one place.

The form view is useful for working closely with each record.

"What if I want to find the language spoken in Belgium?" asks Laura.

And Jacob says, "The form view will let you look closely at the data to get the answer." Time for a question.

Which view will be better for finding the country with the highest population? Would it be A, the image view; B, the table view; C, the text view; or D, the form view? Well done, the answer is B, the table view.

And that's because you can put a lot of different records all with populations next to each other and order them to see which is the highest one.

So open the countries database, and the link is oak.

link/countries.

That's oak.

link/countries.

Use the table view to help you answer these questions.

The first question is, which country has the highest population? Then which country comes first in alphabetical order? And then which country has the smallest area? Okay, let's have a look at the answers.

So the country with the highest population is China, and their population is 1,376,049,024 people.

Which country comes first in alphabetical order? And that's Austria.

And the country with the smallest area is Hong Kong.

Now switch to form view in the same database.

Scroll through the records to answer these questions.

What is the population of Brazil? Which country uses the lira as a currency? And which country uses the language Afrikaans? Let's see the answers to those.

So the population of Brazil is 205,338,000.

The country that uses the lira as currency is Turkey.

And the country that uses the language Afrikaans is South Africa.

Now you're going to compare form and table views.

Which view helped you answer your questions faster, and why? So the table view helped me answer my questions faster because I could see all the countries at the same time and sort them quickly.

Again, compare form and table views.

Which view helps you find the detailed information more easily, and why? The form view helped me find detailed information more easily because I could look at one country at a time and read all of its information clearly.

So let's have a look at a summary of this lesson.

A database is an organised collection of data made up of records and fields.

A field is a single type of information, such as population or number of legs.

The table view can be used to see lots of records at the same time.

The form view is used to look in close detail at records.

Different views can help you find and understand information in different ways.

Thank you for joining me for this lesson today, which has been called "Computer databases" from the unit Flat-file databases.

I hope you can join me again soon for another Oak Academy lesson.