Technology · Unit 10

Data and Information

Bits, binary, files and databases

Everything a computer handles - text, images, sound, video - is numbers underneath, and the encoding is what makes the difference.

The unit covers bits and bytes, binary, encoding text and images, file formats, and databases.

This unit breaks down into 23 short steps and 119 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 5. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.

Steps: 23
Questions: 119
Difficulty: 1-5

What this unit covers

File Formats
Binary
Databases
Bits and Bytes
Encoding Text and Images

Where this fits

Follows Computer Hardware. Needed for Programming.

Where people slip

Data is not information until it is interpreted. The same bytes are an image or nonsense depending on what you tell the machine they are, which is what file formats specify.

How the unit is structured

Data and Information runs as 23 short steps that unlock in order. 17 are practice rounds and 6 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 5 as you progress.

Step 1 · easierStep 23 · harder

Challenge rounds

Example questions

30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 119 in the unit altogether.

Binary

Multiple choiceLevel 1
1. How many different digits does the binary system use in total?
- Twocorrect
- Ten
- One
- Sixteen
Binary uses two digits only, 0 and 1.
True or falseLevel 1
2. Binary is a number system that uses only two different digits.
Answer: True
True, binary uses just 0 and 1, so it is called a base-2 system.
Fill the blankLevel 2
3. Because it uses only two digits, binary is also called base-____.
- 2correct
- 10
- 8
- 16
Binary is base-2 since it has two digits, 0 and 1.
Guess the numberLevel 3
4. What is the binary number 111 equal to in decimal?
Answer: 7
Binary 111 is 4 plus 2 plus 1, which equals 7.
Odd one outLevel 3
5. Three of these numbers can be made using only 3 bits. Which one CANNOT?
- 9correct
- 5
- 7
- 3
Three bits can only count from 0 up to 7, so 9 is too big to fit.
Put in orderLevel 3
6. Put these binary place values in order from smallest to largest.
Answer: 1 -> 2 -> 4 -> 8
Each binary place is double the last, so the order is 1, 2, 4, 8.

Bits and Bytes

Fill the blankLevel 1
7. The smallest unit of computer data is called a ____.
- bitcorrect
- byte
- file
- pixel
A bit is the smallest unit of data, holding a single 0 or 1.
Guess the numberLevel 2
8. How many bits are there in one byte?
Answer: 8 bits
A byte is a group of 8 bits.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
9. One kilobyte (KB) is about how many bytes?
- About 1,000correct
- About 10
- About 100
- About 1 million
A kilobyte is about 1,000 bytes, or exactly 1,024 bytes in the binary counting used by computers.
Odd one outLevel 2
10. Which of these is NOT a unit for measuring computer data?
- Hammercorrect
- Bit
- Byte
- Kilobyte
Bit, byte and kilobyte all measure data, but a hammer is a tool, not a data unit.
Put in orderLevel 2
11. Put these data units in order from smallest to largest.
Answer: byte -> kilobyte -> megabyte -> gigabyte
Each unit is much bigger than the one before: byte, then kilobyte, then megabyte, then gigabyte.
Choose all that applyLevel 3
12. Which of these are real units for measuring data size? Pick all that apply.
- Bitcorrect
- Bytecorrect
- Gigabytecorrect
- Metre
Bits, bytes and gigabytes all measure data, but a metre measures length.

Databases

Choose all that applyLevel 2
13. Which of these could a database store well? Pick all that apply.
- A list of namescorrect
- Student gradescorrect
- Phone numberscorrect
- A warm feeling
Databases are great for organized facts like names, grades and phone numbers.
Fill the blankLevel 2
14. A database often keeps information in rows and ____.
- columnscorrect
- clouds
- wires
- songs
Data is organized into rows and columns, a bit like a neat table.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
15. In a database table, all the information about one single person is stored in a ____.
- Rowcorrect
- Button
- Screen
- Cable
One row holds everything about a single item or person, like one line in a table.
Odd one outLevel 2
16. Which of these would a database NOT store as neat data?
- A smellcorrect
- Names
- Prices
- Dates
Names, prices and dates are all clear data, but a smell is not something a database can store.
True or falseLevel 2
17. The contacts list on a phone is a kind of small database.
Answer: True
True, it stores organized information like names and numbers, just like a database.
Type the answerLevel 2
18. An organized collection of data stored on a computer is called a ____.
Answer: database
A database is an organized collection of data that is easy to search.

Encoding Text and Images

Fill the blankLevel 1
19. A tiny dot that helps make up a picture on a screen is called a ____.
- pixelcorrect
- byte
- cable
- folder
A pixel is one of the tiny coloured dots that build up a screen image.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
20. A digital photo is made up of many tiny ____.
- Pixelscorrect
- Wires
- Pages
- Speakers
Photos are built from lots of pixels, each showing one small colour.
Sort into groupsLevel 2
21. Sort each file ending into the kind of thing it stores.
Answer: .jpg = Image; .png = Image; .mp3 = Sound; .wav = Sound
Some file types hold images and others hold sound, and the ending tells you which.
True or falseLevel 2
22. Each letter you type is turned into a number that the computer can store.
Answer: True
True, computers use codes that give every letter its own number.
Type the answerLevel 2
23. The tiny coloured dots that make up an image on a screen are called ____.
Answer: pixels
Each pixel shows one colour, and together they form the whole picture.
Choose all that applyLevel 3
24. Which of these are real ways computers encode information? Pick all that apply.
- Letters stored as numberscorrect
- Images stored as pixelscorrect
- Sound stored as numberscorrect
- Ideas stored as magic
Computers store letters as numbers, images as pixels and sounds as numbers too.

File Formats

Multiple choiceLevel 1
25. A file that ends in .jpg is usually what kind of file?
- An imagecorrect
- A song
- A video
- A game
A .jpg file is a picture or photo, one of the most common image formats.
True or falseLevel 1
26. A .pdf file is a kind of document you can open and read.
Answer: True
True, PDF files hold documents like forms, letters and books that look the same on any device.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
27. Which of these file endings are usually images? Pick all that apply.
- .jpgcorrect
- .pngcorrect
- .mp3
- .txt
.jpg and .png are both image formats, while .mp3 is sound and .txt is text.
Fill the blankLevel 2
28. The short part after the dot in a file name, like jpg or mp3, is called the file ____.
- extensioncorrect
- folder
- colour
- battery
The file extension tells the computer what kind of file it is.
Match the pairsLevel 2
29. Match each file ending to the kind of file it usually is.
Answer: .jpg = Image; .mp3 = Sound; .txt = Text; .mp4 = Video
Each file ending is a clue to what is inside, like image, sound, text or video.
Sort into groupsLevel 3
30. Sort each file format into the kind of media it stores.
Answer: .jpg = Image; .png = Image; .mp3 = Audio; .mp4 = Video
Images, audio and video each have their own common file formats.

Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.

How you practise

This unit mixes 10 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.

Choose all that apply
Fill the blank
Guess the number
Match the pairs
Multiple choice
Odd one out
Put in order
Sort into groups
True or false
Type the answer

Practise Data and Information

119 questions across 23 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.

Play this unit

Read about Data and Information

Explainers from our blog on what this unit covers. Each one ends with real questions from the bank.

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