New
New
Year 10
OCR

Metadata

I can describe what metadata is and how it is used to provide data about images and sounds.

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New
New
Year 10
OCR

Metadata

I can describe what metadata is and how it is used to provide data about images and sounds.

Link copied to clipboard

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Metadata is data that describes other data.
  2. Metadata provides extra information about the properties of an original artefact as textual data that can be searched.
  3. Image and sound file metadata provides a range of information that can be used in a variety of ways.

Keywords

  • Metadata - data used to describe other data

Common misconception

Metadata is only used when a user needs to know when a file was made or changed.

Metadata can be used in a variety of ways. For example, software can be designed to make use of metadata for effective cataloguing and providing extra information about the properites of a file being used.


To help you plan your year 10 computer science lesson on: Metadata, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Use downloaded files to inspect the metadata of different files. Pupils could investigate the range of metadata that is included in all manner of files.
Teacher tip

Equipment

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.
What is the smallest element of an image?
colour depth
resolution
sample
Correct answer: pixel
Q2.
What does colour depth represent?
the number of samples per second
the total number of pixels in an image
Correct answer: the number of bits used to represent a pixel’s colour
the resolution of a sound file
Q3.
What does the resolution of an image determine?
Correct answer: the number of pixels in the image
the number of bits in each sample
the size of the file
the number of samples per second
Q4.
What is the process of converting data into binary called?
Correct Answer: digitisation, digitization
Q5.
What term describes the number of samples taken per second in a sound file?
Correct Answer: sample rate
Q6.
What happens when you increase the sample rate of a sound file?
Correct answer: file size increases
file size decreases
colour depth increases
resolution decreases

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the term to its description:
Correct Answer:metadata,data that describes other data

data that describes other data

Correct Answer:resolution,the total number of pixels in an image

the total number of pixels in an image

Correct Answer:sample rate,the number of samples taken per second

the number of samples taken per second

Q2.
Match the term to its description:
Correct Answer:file creation date,textual metadata

textual metadata

Correct Answer:colour depth,the number of bits used to represent each pixel

the number of bits used to represent each pixel

Correct Answer:duration,a property of a sound file

a property of a sound file

Q3.
Which of the following is an example of metadata in an image file?
sample rate
Correct answer: resolution
duration
Q4.
What does metadata for a sound file include?
colour depth
pixel size
Correct answer: sample rate
Q5.
How can metadata be used?
Correct answer: to describe the properties of a file
to store the main content of a file
to increase the file size
to digitise the file
Q6.
What is a key benefit of metadata?
it reduces file size
it changes the file format
it digitises the file
Correct answer: it provides searchable information