YEAR 1

Unit 1C The information around us

ABOUT THE UNIT

In this unit children learn that information exists in a variety of forms, including text, still and moving pictures, charts and sounds
and that different media are used for different purposes. They learn that ICT can be used to communicate and handle information
in a variety of ways.

Children should be able to apply what they have learned in this unit when they are looking for and presenting information.

WHERE THE UNIT FITS IN TECHNICAL VOCABULARY RESOURCES

This is an introductory unit about • button/icon • sound tapes
information and how it is • information • assorted pictures
communicated. It builds on experience • text • multimedia program, eg talking
of using software such as a painting • text/font styles book, adventure game
program and a word processor. It • graphics/pictures • samples of text from different
provides a foundation for Units 1E • sound sources and for different purposes
‘Representing information graphically: • multimedia • pictures of signs and symbols in
pictograms’, 2C ‘Finding information’, everyday life
2E ‘Questions and answers’, as well as • tape recorder
Units 2A ‘Writing stories:
communicating information on using
text’, 3A ‘Combining text and graphics’
and 4A ‘Writing for different audiences’.

EXPECTATIONS
at the end of this unit

most children will: know that information exists in a variety of forms and be able to gather it
from a variety of sources

some children will not have made have had opportunities to collect information in various forms and from
so much progress and will: various sources

some children will have recognise that computer programs use sounds, text and pictures to
progressed further and will: communicate information; begin to recognise some of the conventions
used to communicate information
LEARNING OBJECTIVES POSSIBLE TEACHING ACTIVITIES

SETTING THE SCENE

CHILDREN SHOULD LEARN

• key idea: that information can be  Discuss with the children that materials ‘tell’ us things, eg pictures show us what things look like,
presented in a variety of forms maps show where things are, labels describe what things are, sounds, such as bells and whistles,
can tell us that something is about to happen.

• key idea: that information comes from  Discuss with the children where we might find things out and introduce the idea of a variety of
a variety of sources sources, eg asking questions, books, television, people.

S H O R T F O C U S E D TA S K S

• key idea: that sounds convey  Prepare a tape recording of sounds that carry information, eg a bell indicating the end of
information playtime, a television theme tune indicating that a programme is about to start, a baby crying
indicating it is hungry, a police car or ambulance siren. Ask the children to close their eyes, listen
to the sounds and describe what the sounds are ‘telling’ them.
 Children should tape record an interview with an adult, perhaps to collect information to support
their topic work. Prior to the interviews they should decide on the questions that they want to
ask. Topics will vary, eg transport, houses, what it was like when they were children. The
recordings can then be played to the whole class. Children should then use the information
gathered for other activities.

• key idea: that pictures provide  Show the class a selection of poster-sized pictures, including photographs, representational
information drawings, abstract pictures, signs and maps. Ask the children to describe what each picture is
‘telling’ them, eg it shows some of the types of animals that live in the sea, it shows how big a
dinosaur is compared to a house.

• key idea: that information is all around  Ask the children to look around the classroom and point out anything that provides them with
us in a variety of forms information. Discuss how the information is communicated. Extend the search beyond the
classroom walls but still within the school grounds. Ask the children to collect samples and sort
them into text, pictures and sound. They may have samples that include pictures and text – this
will provide the foundation for a multimedia group under the next activity.
 Ask the children to consider how information is communicated in the wider world, eg road signs,
traffic lights, shop signs, road directions, instruction labels such as ‘PUSH’ and ‘PULL’. Record the
findings, perhaps by drawing pictures. Sort these out into text, pictures, sound and multimedia.
 On paper, children should record various objects that communicate information in different ways,
eg fold a sheet of paper into six sections and ask children to draw, or collect, pictures of things
that communicate information using text, sound, still pictures, icons, text and pictures together,
or symbols, which might include pictures of books, magazines or newspapers, alarm clocks,
kitchen timers, microwave ovens, computer icons for printers, word processors, painting
programs, comics, social signs, television cartoons or videos, warning signs.

• key idea: that computers use icons to  Introduce the children to a multimedia program such as a talking book or an adventure game.
provide information and instructions Ask them to look at the icons on the screen and to suggest what information or instruction they
might provide. Encourage the children to check and see if they were right.
 Children should explore the program and see how many different ways the computer can
communicate information.

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 Unit 1C The information around us

LEARNING OUTCOMES POINTS TO NOTE

CHILDREN

• recognise that different materials can provide information It might be possible to extend the discussion to include categories of
information, eg warnings (as in road signs and traffic lights),
instructions or entertainment.

• know that they can find information from various sources Children should be encouraged to think about different types of
books, eg dictionaries, encyclopedias.

• recognise that sounds convey information There are simple cassette recorders available that can record using a single
• use a cassette recorder to collect and store information as sound key press. Most children would be able to record information using such a
device. Children should be encouraged to record each question as well as
the response. It might be appropriate to pair a less-confident child with
one who has prior experience of using a microphone.

• explain what information a picture provides Try to include pictures that include text and encourage children to
distinguish between the information that the text and picture provides.

If a digital camera is available, children should be able to use it to

record topic-related information, eg different types of houses,
transport, pets.

• identify materials that provide information More-able children could be encouraged to record the type of
information that they provide.

• know what information is conveyed by some of the icons used in Discuss with the children what the electronic book provides when
computer software compared to the traditional paper-based version.
(Children could create display cards for the computer area showing
what the icons mean.)

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES POSSIBLE TEACHING ACTIVITIES

CHILDREN SHOULD LEARN

• key idea: that certain ‘rules’ (or  Collect paper-based samples of text that are used for different purposes. Discuss why different
conventions) are applied in styles and sizes of text or font are used, eg a label in the classroom needs to be large so that
communicating and presenting everyone can see it – this might be the date on the board or the list of who is responsible for
information specific tasks. Children might notice that a newspaper uses different sizes of writing on a page.
They should be encouraged to express their ideas about why this might be. Some children may
notice that colour is used to convey meaning, eg red for stop or danger and green for go. If
drawers are labelled in the classroom and all of the labels are the same size, children might be
asked why they have been prepared in such a way.
 Present a set of prepared text files to the children. Each should be set up for a specific purpose,
eg a suitable font size with a box or frame around it to produce labels for pictures for a display,
a warning sign with large red text in a frame, a layout suitable for a poster with sufficiently large
text to be read from a few feet away. Children could suggest what they would use each one for.
Some could demonstrate and others be given time to experiment later.

I N T E G R AT E D TA S K

• to show that information can be  Ask the children to work in groups to collect information about an agreed topic. Encourage them
presented in a variety of forms and to think about what they want to find out about the subject (but they should be prepared to find
collected from a variety of sources out other things).
 Ask the children to think about where and how they will find out the information and how they
will collect and present it.
 Encourage the children to collect information in a variety of forms, eg representational pictures,
interviews, books, photographs. Ask them to make a simple display of the materials they collect.

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LEARNING OUTCOMES POINTS TO NOTE

CHILDREN

• know that large writing is needed if the information needs to be Children might look at a selection of books from the school library.
seen by everyone and that some colours are used for particular These books should span as wide an age range as possible. They
purposes, eg red is used to warn us of danger might notice that the books for younger children contain more
• know that a computer can manipulate the appearance of text for pictures than text but that as the reader audience gets older there
a particular purpose tend to be fewer and fewer pictures. Children should be encouraged
to suggest that the pictures are there to provide additional
information and that they can make a significant contribution to a
story or to non-fiction material.

• select an appropriate style of presentation for a particular task

Unit 1C The information around us

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Ref: QCA/99/488

© Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) 2000