Lesson video

Hi, my name's Mr. Hall, and thank you for joining me for this Oak National Academy lesson, which is called "Using a Database," taken from the unit "Flat File Databases." I'm delighted you've joined me today for this lesson.

So let's get started.

The outcome of today's lesson is I can outline how I can answer questions by grouping and then sorting data.

In this lesson, we've got three keywords.

Let's have a look at those now.

So the first key word is criteria.

Criteria is a rule used to search or sort data.

Then we've got search.

Search is to look for specific data in a database by using a rule.

And finally we've got sort, and sort is to put data values in order.

So there's our three keywords, criteria, search and sort.

And in this lesson we've got two learning cycles.

So the first learning cycle is group data to answer questions.

And then the second learning cycle combine search and sort to find specific answers.

So let's get started with that first learning cycle, which is the group data to answer questions.

So what is a computer database? Sam explains, a database is an organised collection of data.

And Sophia adds a database is stored in a computer and can be easily used and added to.

So there's some really good points on what a computer database is.

And now we know what a computer database is.

Let's have a look at why we use computer databases.

Well, Laura says, "Databases let you sort data more easily." Sam adds, "They keep our data safe and secure." And Jacob says "Databases can prevent mistakes too." So again, three really good uses of computer databases.

Here we have an example of a record from a paper-based database.

So this is a record for an animal and the name of the animal is an antelope.

And there's various different attributes which you can apply or not to an antelope.

So we've got can fly, has six legs, lives in large groups and is more than one colour.

And you'll see that only two are ticked.

So lives in large groups and is more than one colour because that's the only two of the four around the outside, which are true for an antelope.

And antelope can't fly and only has four legs.

So this is an example of one record from a paper-based database.

Now in a paper-based database, you can have more than one record.

So here we got at the front a record for a sparrow.

So you can see different attributes are ticked.

So this time can fly as ticked because a sparrow is a bird which can fly.

So in this lesson you can use your own paper-based database if you have one.

If you don't have one, you can use the printed version contained in this lesson.

You can update the design of this paper-based database.

So you can pull out records that meet specific criteria.

So criteria that was one of our keywords from before.

Criteria are rules used to search or sort data.

The cards that you pull out will be a group of records that will have something in common.

They will meet the same criteria.

Time for a question.

Match the word to the definition.

So we've got four words down the left, database, field, record and criteria.

And then four definitions.

One complete set of data about a single item in the database.

Rules used to search or sort data.

An organised collection of data stored on a computer.

And a category of data in each record.

So match the word to the definition.

Okay, well done.

So a database is an organised collection of data stored on a computer.

A field is a category of data in each record.

A record is one complete set of data about a single item in a database.

And criteria are the rules used to search and sort data.

To update the paper based records.

You can cut off the corner of any cards that do not have ticks, and you can do this for each record.

So I'm gonna show you this for the antelope record.

Here's my version of the antelope record.

So here you can see it.

I've cut off the two corners at the top, which weren't ticked.

So that just leaves me with the bottom two corners, which are still ticked attached to the card.

So you literally cut off the corners for any of the records which are not ticked.

So you can cut off the can fly corner and that has six legs corner.

Jacob says, "My antelope slope card has ticks for lives in large groups and is more than one colour." And Sophia points out that you keep the corners for those two and cut the other two corners off.

So it will end up looking like that.

And looking like my example here, which I showed you before.

Now hold a corner and carefully shape your cards.

The cards that do not meet the criteria will fall down.

You'll be left with a group of records that have the same criteria and they'll fall down because the corner you are holding, you'll only be able to hold those with the corner still attached.

Jacob says, "If I'm holding all of my cards in a stack by the can fly corner, this card," so the antelope card, "will fall down." And then Sophia says, "The cards you are left with are the can fly group." What would happen to this card if I was holding that lives in large groups corner and why? That's right, the card would fall down.

So a snake does not live in a large group, so it does not meet that criteria.

So that corner's been cut off.

So if you hold that corner, the snake card will fall to the ground.

Now update all your paper record cards, cut off the corner of any cards that do not have ticks.

Once you've done that, use your paper-based database to answer these questions.

Choose one of your fields, group your animals into two groups using this field.

So you could choose can fly versus cannot fly.

Which group has more animals? Write down the numbers.

So this is what you could have done.

I grouped my animals by the can fly field.

I had six animals that can fly and four that cannot.

The can fly group is therefore larger.

Now pick a different field.

Group your animals again.

Did this field create equal groups or is one group much bigger? What do you think that that tells you? This time I group my cards using the criteria has six legs.

Most of my animals did not have six legs and only three did.

That tells me I chose mostly mammals or birds instead of insects.

Were there any problems with grouping your database using paper cards? How easy would it be to use this method if you had 2,000 records instead of just 10? Well, it can be a bit tricky to group the cards by hand, especially if you want to check more than one criteria at a time.

If I had 2,000 cards, it could take a really long time and be hard to keep them in order.

It could be easy to make mistakes or lose track of where I was.

So this is a good method, but probably not for lots and lots of records.

So we wanna find a way of handling more records than we can in a paper database.

And to do that, we're better off using a computer database and using search and sort to find specific answers.

So that brings us onto the second learning cycle, which is to combine search and sort to find specific answers.

And we're gonna do that in a computer database.

Open the computer database, oak.

link/countries.

So that link is oak.

link/countries.

So there's an example of a record in a computer database.

This has got information about the country South Africa with its area, population, language, flag, and currency in that record.

So Sam remembers in a paper-based database, I can hold a corner to group by criteria.

And Laura asks, "On a computer database, how could you find out which items match a criteria?" So let's find out.

The computer database has a search feature.

To open the search press on the magnifying glass.

So there's the magnifying glass.

To search for German language countries.

Select language in the first box, then keep the equal sign in the second box and then select German in the value box.

So I'll go through that altogether.

So first select language in the first box, then keep the equal sign in the second box and finally select German in the value box.

The search puts the matching records into a group.

So this search from that database would identify three records, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.

And it will put those records into a group together.

So here's the three countries.

This is in a list view.

So we've got Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and these all have in common if you look at the language column, the fourth one along, they all speak the language German.

So here's a video of a database search.

So first click on the magnifying glass.

And then choose what you want to search by.

So we want to search by language, we're gonna leave it equals in the second box.

And then the value we're gonna choose is German.

And there's our results, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

All with the language German in common.

There we are in all three records.

So we've got three records and we can see all three records here.

Sophia asks, "Does searching a database change the records that are already there?" And Jacob said, "No, searching only shows the records that match the search criteria, nothing is changed." Time for a question.

What happens when you search for language equals Spanish in the database.

Is the answer.

A, the database gets sorted alphabetically.

B, you create a group of records that do not speak Spanish.

C, you create a group of records that speak Spanish.

Or D, the language of the database changes to Spanish.

Well done, the answer is see you create a group of records that speak Spanish.

So now Laura says, "I want to find the German speaking country with the smallest population, how can I do that?" So the answer here is once you've searched, you can then sort your results to find more specific information.

To find the German speaking country with the smallest population.

First search for language equals German, which you've already done.

And this will create a group.

So this creates the group of Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.

The three records where the language spoken is German.

Then you can sort the group by population.

To do this, click on the population column.

This will sort the population field.

So now the population field is sorted from highest to lowest.

So Germany at the top has the highest population with over 81 million.

And then Switzerland at the bottom has the lowest population with just over 8 million.

You can change the sorting from highest first to lowest first by clicking the column heading again.

So now Switzerland who have the lowest population actually appear at the top of the list and Germany with the highest population appears at the bottom of the list.

The sorting put the data in a specific order.

This makes it easy to see which country had the smallest population.

So now we can see quite clearly that Switzerland from the three countries that speak German, has the smallest population with 8.

2 million.

So now Laura knows that the German country with the smallest population is Switzerland.

So time for a question.

What is the difference between searching and sorting in a database? Well done, searching, groups the data based on a rule.

And sorting puts that group in a particular order.

So now we have a video of a database search and sort.

So let's watch this one.

We'll begin by clicking on the magnifying glass.

Choosing language, equals, and then German.

So that gives us our three results.

And by clicking on population, we've now sorted that from the lowest to the highest.

Clicking again, it's now from the highest to the lowest.

Time for task B, open the country's database at oak.

link/countries.

Use the search and sort tools to find out these answers.

One, which Spanish speaking country has the largest population? Two, which Chinese speaking country has the smallest population? And three, which country using the Euro currency has the smallest area? Okay, here's the answers for those three questions.

Which Spanish speaking country has the largest population? That's Mexico.

Which Chinese speaking country has the smallest population? That's Hong Kong.

And which country using the Euro currency has the smallest area.

And that's Belgium.

Question number four, which country using the Euro currency has the smallest population? And question five, out of all the countries with a population of over 100 million, which has the largest area? Let's have a look at the answers to those.

So the country using the Euro currency that has the smallest population is Austria.

And out of all the countries with a population of over a 100 million, which has the largest area, that's Russia.

Question six, why is it helpful to use searching and sorting in a database? Write at least two sentences to explain your thinking.

So here's three possible sentences you could have written.

Searching is helpful because it lets you quickly find a group of records that match what you are looking for.

Sorting helps you put that group in order, so that you can spot the biggest, smallest, first or last easily.

Together searching and sorting make it faster and easier to answer questions using the data.

So here's a summary of this lesson.

A computer database can be used to find and organise information.

Records are grouped using a search.

Where a condition or criteria is entered to find matching data.

Once a group is created, it's possible to sort the results by a chosen field, such as the population or area to answer more specific questions.

Search and sort can be combined to more easily find patterns or comparisons within the grouped records.

Thank you for choosing to do this Oak Academy lesson today, which has been called "Using a Database," from the unit "Flat File Databases." I hope to see you again really soon for another Oak Academy lesson.