Tables

Use a table when students should compare: two conditions in an experiment, properties of materials, before and after. A picture can go straight into a cell, next to the text it belongs to.

A Table is for reading. If students should fill in the cells themselves, use Fill the table instead.

1. In a worksheet, use the + and choose Table. The new table has a header row and two rows below it, in two columns.

2. Click the line above the table and give it a title.

3. Click a cell and type. Click the next cell to carry on.

4. To add a column or row, point at the table's edge: a + appears between the columns and rows, for example Insert a column right of column 2.

5. Table settings above the table has Header row, Header column, Distribute columns evenly and Automatic widths. You can also drag the border between two columns to resize them.

6. To put a picture in a cell, click the cell. In the toolbar that appears, switch from Text formatting to Table structure, choose Add picture, then Select image file.

7. Click the tick when you are done.

Table structure groups everything else under Row, Column, Cells, Picture and Add: insert, duplicate, move or delete rows and columns, Merge cells after selecting several cells (click one, then Shift-click another), Split cell, and for a picture Fit picture to cell, Show picture at full width, Replace picture or Remove picture.

Students see the finished table with its title. A picture in a cell opens larger when they click it. There is nothing to answer, so nothing is saved.

• Use the header row for what you are comparing and the first column for what you look at, such as water, light and the result.

• Distribute columns evenly when the columns are equal options, so none looks more important than the others.

• Keep cell text short. A table is read across and down; long paragraphs belong in a text item below it.

• Put a picture in the cell it explains, not under the table, so students see it next to the result it shows.