HTML and CSS lesson 7: Tables of data

US version. US grades and US spelling. · UK version of this lesson

Tables show data in rows and columns: <table>, a <tr> for each row, <th> for heading cells and <td> for data cells. A complete 40-minute HTML and CSS lesson for beginners (Grades 6–7), from Unit 2: Links, images and tables. You build real web pages right here in your browser – nothing to install.

Time: 40 minutes + 20 min homework
Grade: Grades 6–7 (ages 11–12)
You need: A computer or tablet, paper and a pencil
Graded: Instantly, with explanations

For parents: how to use this lesson

You don't need to know HTML yourself. The lesson explains each step on screen, the way Mr Babbage, our Head of Computing, likes it: a worked example first, then a go for your child. When your child builds a page, the browser draws it straight away and Classfern grades it with a checklist.

Read what your child will learn together.
Press Start the lesson below. Sit with your child for the teaching and the worked example (about 15 minutes): ask them to point at each tag and say what it does.
Let them do the practice on their own. If a page doesn't look right, the checklist says what is missing – let them find the mistake before you help.
Finish with the exit questions and the talk question: “Name some data from school that would make a good table.”
Later that day or the next day: the homework (20 minutes), then a practice test.

Watch out for

Use <td> for everything. Heading cells should be <th>.
Tables are good for page layout. Use CSS (flexbox) for layout; tables are for data.

Miss Lovelace's tip for home: ask your child to change one thing on their page – a word, a color, a size – and predict what will happen before they look. Predicting first is how programmers learn fastest.

What your child will learn

Learning goal: build a table row by row.

Success looks like

I can build a table row by row.
I can use <th> for headings.
I can know when a table is the right choice.

Key words

table · row · cell · table heading · caption · tbody

What to have ready

A device with a web browser (pages are built and checked right in the browser – nothing to install)
Paper for planning and sketching
A keyboard helps for typing code (a tablet works too)

The big ideas (for the adult)

A table is built ROW by row. Each <tr> (table row) holds that row's cells: <th> for a heading cell and <td> for an ordinary data cell. A <caption> gives the table a title.

Heading cells matter: a screen reader uses them to say "Age: 12" instead of just "12". Browsers show <th> bold and centered.

A surprise: when you write rows straight inside <table>, the browser quietly wraps them in a <tbody> element. That is why the CSS table > tr matches nothing – the rows are inside the <tbody>, not directly inside the table. Use table tr instead. Tables are for data only, never for laying out a whole page.

Worked example: a small table

<table>
<caption>Club scores</caption>
<tr><th>Team</th><th>Points</th></tr>
<tr><td>Owls</td><td>12</td></tr>
<tr><td>Foxes</td><td>9</td></tr>
</table>

The lesson, step by step

40 minutes in 5 parts
Part	Time	How it is checked
Starter	5 min	Graded by Classfern
Learn	8 min	Read, watch and talk
See it	7 min	Graded by Classfern
Practice	15 min	Graded by Classfern
Check and reflect	5 min	Graded by Classfern + self-check

The lesson

It runs here on the page. No sign-up and no names – nothing you type is sent anywhere. Each visit picks a new mix of questions.

Homework

20 minutes: predict what the browser will do, build or fix a short page, and check the key ideas – then a short reflection. New questions every time, all graded instantly.

Practice tests

All computer science practice tests · All 20 HTML and CSS lessons

Curriculum

CSTA K–12 Computer Science Standards (2017), grades 6–8: 2-DA-08 – Collect data with computational tools and transform it to be more useful and reliable.

The standard codes are CSTA's; the descriptions are our own words.

Our lessons and questions are our own. They are not written or endorsed by any government department, testing agency or exam board. HTML and CSS are open web standards; Classfern is not affiliated with the organisations that publish them.