← ACARA Digital Technologies Years 5–6

Filling a cell with colour by hand

A spreadsheet tool that changes the background colour of the selected cell or cells. Click one cell or drag over a block, then pick a colour. Choose No fill to remove the colour.

Part of: ACARA Digital Technologies Years 5–6 — Representing Data with Numbers — Module 26

Understanding Filling a cell with colour by hand in ACARA Digital Technologies Years 5–6

What it does: A1:C3 names the block that starts at A1 and ends at C3, which is what you select when you drag over those cells. B2 is a single cell. Only that cell will change colour when you pick a fill. A cell with 1 filled with black still holds the number 1. Only the look of the cell changes. The fill colour tool paints the background of whatever cells are selected, so the name matches what it does.

Common mistakes: Text colour changes the colour of the letters or numbers. To change the background of the cell, choose Fill colour, then red. Clicking a column letter selects the whole column, not one cell. To colour just C4, click cell C4 itself.

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This module's key terms are also in a printable crossword (Modules 59–71) and word search (Modules 44–71).

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Learning
Duo
Which tool changes the background colour of a spreadsheet cell?
Font sizeFill colour
Matches
Click B2, then choose Fill colour to colour the whole block A1:C3
↓
Only one cell was selected. The fill colours just B2. To colour the whole block, drag from A1 to C3 first.
Applying
Meanings
Term
fill colour
Meaning
A spreadsheet tool that changes the background colour of the selected cell or cells. Click one cell or drag over a block, then pick a colour. Choose No fill to remove the colour.
Practice
select A1:C3
Testing
Gaps
("Yellow")
Check Answer
Spots
2Click cell B2 to select it
3Choose Text colour, then red

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Quick Questions

1. Which tool changes the background colour of a spreadsheet cell?
A. Fill colour ✓
B. Font size
The fill colour tool colours the background of the selected cell. Font size only changes how big the writing is.
2. Before you fill a cell with colour, what must you do first?
A. Type a formula in it
B. Select the cell ✓
The fill colour tool only changes the cells you have selected, so click the cell first.
3. How can you colour a whole block of cells at the same time?
A. Drag over the block to select it, then pick a colour ✓
B. Click one cell and the whole block fills by itself
Dragging selects many cells. The fill colour then applies to every selected cell.
4. You click cell B2 and choose red from the fill colour tool. What changes?
A. Only cell B2 gets a red background ✓
B. The whole column turns red
Fill colour only changes the selected cell or cells. Here, only B2 was selected.
5. You fill a cell with yellow by mistake. How do you remove the colour?
A. Choose white text
B. Choose No fill ✓
No fill takes the background colour away. White text would change the writing, not the background.

Match the Pairs

Fill colour → A tool that changes the background colour of the selected cell or cells
No fill → An option that removes the background colour from the selected cells
Select a block of cells by dragging from the first cell to the last cell → A1:C3
Click one cell to select it before choosing a fill colour → B2
Click B2, then choose Fill colour to colour the whole block A1:C3 → Only one cell was selected. The fill colours just B2. To colour the whole block, drag from A1 to C3 first.
To remove the colour from A1, pick the same fill colour again → Picking a colour will not remove it. You need to choose No fill to take the colour away.

Key Term

fill colour
A spreadsheet tool that changes the background colour of the selected cell or cells. Click one cell or drag over a block, then pick a colour. Choose No fill to remove the colour.

Fill in the Blanks

1. select("B2") fillColour("Yellow")
Hint: Type the name of the tool that changes the background colour of the selected cell.
2. select("A1:C3") fillColour("Pink")
Hint: Type the symbol that joins the first and last cell of a block.
3. select("D4") fillColour("Red")
Hint: Type the command you use first to choose the cell before you colour it.
4. select("B2:B6") fillColour("No fill")
Hint: Type the menu choice that removes the colour from the cells.
5. select("A1:A3") # drag down 3 cells fillColour("Blue")
Hint: Type the last cell of the block so it covers three cells down column A.

Spot the Error

Question 1
A Goal: colour cell B2 red
B Click cell B2 to select it
C Choose Text colour, then red
Line C — Text colour changes the colour of the letters or numbers. To change the background of the cell, choose Fill colour, then red.
Question 2
A Click the column letter C
B Open the Fill colour palette
C Pick green from the palette
Line A — Clicking a column letter selects the whole column, not one cell. To colour just C4, click cell C4 itself.
Question 3
A Click cell A1
B Drag across to cell C3
C Choose No fill to add blue
Line C — No fill removes colour, so it cannot add blue. Choose Fill colour, then blue, to colour the selected block.
Question 4
A Select the coloured cell D5
B Open the Fill colour palette
C Pick red to remove the colour
Line C — Picking a colour adds a new fill, it does not remove one. To remove the colour, choose No fill.
Question 5
A Click cell A1
B Hold the mouse button down
C Drag down to cell A5
D Click cell F9 to finish
E Pick pink from Fill colour
Line D — Clicking another cell replaces the selection, so only F9 would be selected. Release the mouse button to keep the block A1 to A5 selected.

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