This KS3 ICT quiz will ask questions on data logging. Data logging is a means of collecting and storing data. The data stored on a datalogger is temporary and will be lost the next time it is used. For that reason, the data is downloaded to a computer as a file so that it can be permanently stored and processed. Processing of data from a data logger is often done using a spreadsheet as that is software that can easily produce a graph or other chart from a table of numbers. Graphs and charts can help people make sense of a series of numbers more easily.
Data loggers obtain their data from sensors. There are a large range of different ones that can record many changes in the environment - temperature, humidity, light level and so forth. Sensors are designed to convert the information about the environment into electrical signals which can be stored as data. They work automatically, that is to say, once they have been programmed by a person, they can be left in the environment for long periods of time without the need for anyone to be there.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Data and databases
This has many advantages
|
They contain electronic devices that will convert an environmental change into an electrical signal
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
A gas sensor is more appropriate
|
Some use electrical components to detect the environmental changes but others, like a water flow rate sensor, use mechanical components
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
An example of an analogue sensor would be a microphone
|
Data is stored on a computer as a series of zeros and ones
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Recording a series of data is referred to as 'logging'
|
This data can then be processed to give charts and graphs that a person can use to draw conclusions
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Data loggers collect lots of data over a period of time. Recording the current air temperature requires only one reading
|
CSV stands for Comma Separated Variable
|