HTML and CSS lesson 7: Tables of data

UK version. UK school years and UK spelling. · US 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 (Year 7, KS3), 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
Year: Year 7, KS3 (ages 11–12)
You need: A computer or tablet, paper and a pencil
Marked: 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 marks 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 colour, a size – and predict what will happen before they look. Predicting first is how programmers learn fastest.

What your child will learn

We are learning to 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 centred.

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	Marked by Classfern
Learn	8 min	Read, watch and talk
See it	7 min	Marked by Classfern
Practise	15 min	Marked by Classfern
Check and reflect	5 min	Marked 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 marked instantly.

Practice tests

All KS3 computing practice tests · All 20 HTML and CSS lessons

Curriculum

National curriculum in England, computing, key stage 3: pupils should be taught to use 2 or more programming languages, at least one of which is textual, to solve a variety of computational problems; make appropriate use of data structures [for example, lists, tables or arrays]; design and develop modular programs that use procedures or functions.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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.