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Year 8

Measurements of data

I can provide examples of the different ways binary digits are physically represented in digital devices.

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New
New
Year 8

Measurements of data

I can provide examples of the different ways binary digits are physically represented in digital devices.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Data is measured in units, like bits, bytes, kilobytes (kB), megabytes (MB) and gigabytes (GB).
  2. You can convert between units.
  3. Binary digits are physically represented in digital devices.
  4. All digital data whether text, images or videos is stored using patterns of bits.

Keywords

  • Unit - a standard measurement used to quantify the amount of digital information

  • Prefix - changes the size of the unit by a certain amount

Common misconception

Mega is larger than giga.

The order of prefixes from smallest to largest is kilo, mega, giga, tera.


To help you plan your year 8 computing lesson on: Measurements of data, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

This lesson talks about units of measurement, it would be useful to relate this to units of measurements pupils may have seen elsewhere, for example in catering where they may have experienced g, kg etc.
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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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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What digits are used in the binary number system?

Correct answer: 0 and 1
1 and 2
2 and 3
0 to 9

Q2.
What does each digit in a decimal number represent?

a power of 2
a colour
Correct answer: a power of 10
a letter

Q3.
How do you convert a decimal number to binary?

by dividing by 10
Correct answer: by finding which powers of 2 add up to the number
by adding all the digits together
by multiplying by 2

Q4.
Which number is written as 101 in binary?

Correct Answer: 5, five

Q5.
What is the binary representation of the decimal number eight?

Correct Answer: 1000

Q6.
Match each keyword to its meaning:

Correct Answer:decimal,a number system with ten digits

a number system with ten digits

Correct Answer:binary,a number system with two digits

a number system with two digits

Correct Answer:denary,another name for decimal

another name for decimal

Correct Answer:bit,a single digit in binary

a single digit in binary

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
If a file is 2,000 bytes, how many kilobytes is it?

Correct Answer: 2, 2 kB, 2kB

Q2.
What prefix means one million?

Correct Answer: Mega

Q3.
Which statement is correct about the relationship between bits and bytes?

Correct answer: One byte is made up of eight bits.
One bit is made up of eight bytes.
One byte is the same as one bit.
One bit is larger than one byte.

Q4.
Put these data units in order from smallest to largest:

1 - byte
2 - kilobyte
3 - megabyte
4 - gigabyte

Q5.
How is data stored on an optical disk, such as a CD or DVD?

by freezing liquid crystals
by arranging magnetic particles
by using electrical charges
Correct answer: by creating tiny pits and lands on the surface

Q6.
Put these steps in order to show how data is transferred using wireless signals:

1 - data is sent from a device to a wireless transmitter
2 - data is converted into radio waves and sent to the receiver
3 - the wireless device receives the radio waves
4 - the device decodes the radio waves back into data