Class 6 · Unit 2: Data · Lesson 2.1 · 40 min

Five kinds of data: numbers, text, images, video and sound

A photo of a spotted leaf. A voice note from Delhi. A price in a message. A clip of the packing shed. The number 248. So different — and all of it is data.

Today you will: Meet the five kinds of data · Make one file of each kind · Find out which file is biggest — and why

Story

Mehreen's uncle grows apples in Shopian. One evening he shows her his phone.

Uncle: “Look. This morning's photo of a leaf with spots. A voice note from the fruit buyer in Delhi. A message: Price today: Delicious ₹1,100 a box. This short clip of the packing shed. And this note of how many boxes we packed: 248.”

Mehreen thinks. "A photo, a voice, some words, a number... they're all so different."

Uncle: “Different, but a computer keeps every one of them the same way, as data.”

What is data, and why does AI need so much of it?

Watch

Five kinds of data — — scan code 6.2.1 in the printed book.

Warm up your fingers

10 minutes on typing.com: home row practice.

Continue the home row lessons from Unit 0 (for example "Home Row: J, F, and Space" and "Home Row: K and D").
Goal: fingers stay on A S D F and J K L ;, and eyes stay on the screen, not the keys.
Accuracy matters more than speed. Aim for 90% or better.

On the laptop

Data is raw facts: the number 32. Add what, where and when, and it becomes information: it was 32 degrees Celsius in Srinagar on Tuesday. Data comes from asking people, books and records, the internet, and instruments like a thermometer.

Tools: File Explorer · LibreOffice Calc and Writer · Sound Recorder · the camera, or your teacher's shared leaf.jpg and clip.mp4

Mission 1: A folder for your data (pairs, 3 min)

☐1
Open File Explorer and go to your AI-work folder from Unit 0.
☐2
Right-click → New → Folder. Name it my-data-6 — type it with your home-row fingers.

Mission 2: One file of each kind (pairs, 9 min)

☐3
Text: in Writer, type one sentence about your village or mohalla. Save it in my-data-6 as text.
☐4
Numbers: in Calc, type Apples in A1 and 248 in B1. Save as numbers.
☐5
Image: save one picture of a chinar leaf — from the camera, or your teacher's file — as leaf.
☐6
Sound: in Sound Recorder, say "Salaam, this is data". Save it as voice.
☐7
Video: copy your teacher's 5-second clip.mp4 — or film 5 seconds of the window or the blackboard. Never a classmate's face.

Mission 3: Which is biggest? (pairs, 3 min)

☐8
Predict: which of your five files is the biggest? Write your guess in your notebook.
☐9
Switch the folder to Details view and look at Type and Size. Was your guess right? Why is that one so big?

No laptop today?

Draw five boxes: Numbers · Text · Image · Video · Sound. In each, draw or write two examples from home or school — the date on the board, a shop signboard, a wedding photo, a cricket clip, the azaan. Compare with a partner.

Now you know

Five kinds of data and their files: numbers like 248 boxes packed (.ods, .csv); text like 'Price today ₹1,100 a box' (.txt, .odt); an image of a spotted leaf (.jpg, .png); a video (.mp4); and sound (.wav, .mp3). AI learns from data: images for seeing, sound for listening, text for reading.

Data is raw facts we collect. Organised so that it tells us something, it becomes information.
Five kinds: numbers, text, images, video and sound.
Data comes from people, books and records, the internet, and instruments like a thermometer.
Each kind has its own file type .ods for tables, .txt for text, .jpg for pictures, .mp4 for video, .wav for sound.
Video makes the biggest files it is many pictures and sound, one after another.
AI learns from data. The kind of data decides what it can learn: seeing, listening, reading.

Debate it

Your voice recording is data about you. Who should be allowed to keep it, and for how long?

Check yourself — practice, not a test

1. Match each piece of data to its type:
248 boxes of apples · A voice note from the fruit buyer · A photo of a spotted leaf · "Price today: ₹1,100 a box" · A clip of the packing shed
Match with: Video · Image · Sound · Numerical · Text
2. Which file is usually the largest?
- ○ A number typed in a spreadsheet
- ○ A sentence in a text file
- ○ A one-minute video
- ○ A file name
3. Inside a computer, even a photo is stored as numbers.
- ○ True
- ○ False
4. An app that listens to people's questions mostly learns from:
- ○ Images
- ○ Sound
- ○ Numbers of apple boxes
- ○ Nothing, it just knows
5. Raw facts are called data. Once they are organised so that they tell us something, they become ______.
6. Which of these are ways of collecting data? (choose all that apply)
- ○ Asking people
- ○ Reading books and records
- ○ Measuring with an instrument, such as a thermometer
- ○ Guessing a number that looks about right

Remember

Numerical, text, image, video, sound: all of it is data, and data is what AI learns from.

Story

Mehreen's uncle grows apples in Shopian. One evening he shows her his phone.

Mehreen thinks. "A photo, a voice, some words, a number... they're all so different."

Uncle: “Different, but a computer keeps every one of them the same way, as data.”

What is data, and why does AI need so much of it?

On the laptop

Tools: File Explorer · LibreOffice Calc and Writer · Sound Recorder · the camera, or your teacher's shared leaf.jpg and clip.mp4

Mission 1: A folder for your data (pairs, 3 min)

☐1
Open File Explorer and go to your AI-work folder from Unit 0.
☐2
Right-click → New → Folder. Name it my-data-6 — type it with your home-row fingers.

Mission 2: One file of each kind (pairs, 9 min)

☐3
Text: in Writer, type one sentence about your village or mohalla. Save it in my-data-6 as text.
☐4
Numbers: in Calc, type Apples in A1 and 248 in B1. Save as numbers.
☐5
Image: save one picture of a chinar leaf — from the camera, or your teacher's file — as leaf.
☐6
Sound: in Sound Recorder, say "Salaam, this is data". Save it as voice.
☐7
Video: copy your teacher's 5-second clip.mp4 — or film 5 seconds of the window or the blackboard. Never a classmate's face.

Mission 3: Which is biggest? (pairs, 3 min)

☐8
Predict: which of your five files is the biggest? Write your guess in your notebook.
☐9
Switch the folder to Details view and look at Type and Size. Was your guess right? Why is that one so big?

No laptop today?

Now you know

Data is raw facts we collect. Organised so that it tells us something, it becomes information.

Five kinds: numbers, text, images, video and sound.

Data comes from people, books and records, the internet, and instruments like a thermometer.

Each kind has its own file type .ods for tables, .txt for text, .jpg for pictures, .mp4 for video, .wav for sound.

Video makes the biggest files it is many pictures and sound, one after another.

AI learns from data. The kind of data decides what it can learn: seeing, listening, reading.

Check yourself — practice, not a test

1. Match each piece of data to its type:

248 boxes of apples · A voice note from the fruit buyer · A photo of a spotted leaf · "Price today: ₹1,100 a box" · A clip of the packing shed
Match with: Video · Image · Sound · Numerical · Text

2. Which file is usually the largest?

○ A number typed in a spreadsheet
○ A sentence in a text file
○ A one-minute video
○ A file name

3. Inside a computer, even a photo is stored as numbers.

○ True
○ False

4. An app that listens to people's questions mostly learns from:

○ Images
○ Sound
○ Numbers of apple boxes
○ Nothing, it just knows

5. Raw facts are called data. Once they are organised so that they tell us something, they become ______.

6. Which of these are ways of collecting data? (choose all that apply)

○ Asking people
○ Reading books and records
○ Measuring with an instrument, such as a thermometer
○ Guessing a number that looks about right