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Year 10
OCR

Bubble sort

I can perform a bubble sort to order data in a list.

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New
New
Year 10
OCR

Bubble sort

I can perform a bubble sort to order data in a list.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The bubble sort algorithm works by repeatedly going through a list.
  2. It compares adjacent items and swaps the items if they are in the wrong order.
  3. Each time the algorithm goes through the list it is called a pass.
  4. The pass through the list is repeated until no more changes are made on a pass.

Keywords

  • Bubble sort - a sorting algorithm that repeatedly compares pairs of values within a list and swaps them if they are out of order

  • Pass - a complete traversal of a list

Common misconception

The bubble sort algorithm stops on the last swap.

The pass through the list is repeated until no more changes are made on a pass. The last pass is needed to confirm the data is in order.


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

Bubble sort is so named as it is analogous to a bubble passing over and comparing pairs of data. Finding ways to compare the operation of abstract concepts found in computing can help pupils contextualise what they are learning about when the concept is difficult to grasp.
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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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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is an algorithm?
a programming language
a type of data structure
a trace table
Correct answer: a set of step-by-step instructions to solve a problem
Q2.
Which searching algorithm is simpler to code?
binary search
Correct answer: linear search
interpolation search
bubble search
Q3.
What is the purpose of a trace table?
to debug code
Correct answer: to track the values of variables and the flow of execution
to store data
to write algorithms
Q4.
Which of the following is a characteristic of a binary search?
It checks every element in the list.
It works only with unsorted data.
It’s simpler than a linear search.
Correct answer: It splits the data into halves to search efficiently.
Q5.
What does a linear search do?
splits data into halves
uses a trace table to debug code
Correct answer: searches sequentially through each element
sorts the data first
Q6.
What is required for binary search?
Correct answer: The data must be sorted.
The data must be unsorted.
The data must be small.
The data must be large.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which sorting algorithm repeatedly compares and swaps adjacent items in a list?
Correct Answer: bubble sort, bubble
Q2.
What does the bubble sort algorithm do?
Correct answer: compares adjacent items and swaps them if needed
divides the list into halves and sorts each half
searches for a specific value in the list
tracks the number of passes in a trace table
Q3.
What is the purpose of swapping items in the bubble sort algorithm?
to remove duplicates
to divide the list into smaller parts
to create a trace table
Correct answer: to order the list correctly
Q4.
How many passes are required to complete a bubble sort?
one pass
a fixed number of passes
Correct answer: until no more swaps are needed
until the largest value is found
Q5.
Arrange the steps to perform one pass of a bubble sort:
1 - compare adjacent items
2 - swap items if they are in the wrong order
3 - move to the next pair of items
4 - repeat until the end of the list is reached
Q6.
Match the actions to their purposes:
Correct Answer:performing a pass,compares all adjacent items in the list

compares all adjacent items in the list

Correct Answer:swapping items,ensures the list is ordered

ensures the list is ordered

Correct Answer:repeating passes,fully sorts the list

fully sorts the list

Correct Answer:stopping the algorithm,indicates no swaps were needed

indicates no swaps were needed