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ACARA Digital Technologies Years 5–6 — Representing Data with Numbers

How computers turn pictures, colours and text into numbers — including binary.

Modules (48)

1 Digital systems store everything as numbers 2 Types of data: images, sound and video 3 Binary means two states 4 Bits and the binary digits 0 and 1 5 On and off switches in everyday things 6 Encode and decode 7 A binary alphabet with two symbols 8 Representing images with pixels 9 Reading a pixel grid row by row 10 Encoding a black-and-white image as 0s and 1s 11 Decoding 0s and 1s into an image 12 One wrong digit changes the picture 13 Spotting patterns in an encoded image 14 Run-length encoding of a pixel image 15 Decoding run-length counts back into pixels 16 Why run-length encoding saves space 17 One bit gives two colours 18 Two bits give four shades: greyscale 19 More colours need more binary digits 20 A colour key: whole numbers stand for colours 21 Encoding a picture with a colour key 22 Decoding a colour-by-number grid 23 Spreadsheet rows, columns and cells 24 Cell references like A1 25 Entering data into cells 26 Filling a cell with colour by hand 27 Making spreadsheet cells square 28 Keyboard shortcuts: copy, paste and undo 29 Colouring cells by their number with a conditional formatting rule 30 Adding more rules for more colours 31 A black-and-white picture from 0s and 1s in a spreadsheet 32 Making pixel art with whole numbers in a spreadsheet 33 Representing text with number codes 34 Encoding and decoding a word with a letter-number code 35 A letter as a pattern of 0s and 1s 36 What a data type is 37 Whole numbers as a data type 38 Types of data: numbers and text 39 Text (strings) as a data type 40 True or false values 41 The number 5 compared with the text "5" 42 Sorting values into number, text or true/false 43 Operations on numbers: + - * / 44 Joining text together 45 Comparing values gives true or false 46 The data type decides what you can do 47 Choosing a data type for a value 48 Explaining how digital systems use numbers for data

Smaller journeys, one per content description

The same modules, split up so a class can take just the content description it's working on.

ACARA 5-6 Digital Technologies: Binary and pixel images — AC9TDI6K03, AC9TDI6K04 Students learn that digital systems store data as numbers, that binary uses only 0 and 1 as off and on states, and how to encode, decode and compress black-and-white and greyscale pixel images.

ACARA 5-6 Digital Technologies: Numbers for colours, pictures and text — AC9TDI6K03, AC9TDI6K04 Students use whole numbers as colour codes, build pixel art with spreadsheet formatting rules, and see how letters are stored as number codes and as patterns of 0s and 1s.

ACARA 5-6 Digital Technologies: Data types and what you can do with them — AC9TDI6K03, AC9TDI6K04 Students learn about whole numbers, text and true/false values, how the data type changes which operations work, and how to explain all of this in short sentences.

Printables for this journey

Every module above has its own free printable worksheet with an answer key. These crosswords and word searches cover the same terms:

Years 5–6 Data & Information Crossword: Data, information and binary representation (Modules 1–10) 10 clues · Data and information, Types of data: numbers and text, Types of data: images, sound and video, Same data, different representations and more

Years 5–6 Data & Information Crossword: Data, information and binary representation and Acquiring and manipulating data (Modules 11–20) 10 clues · Representing images with pixels, Primary and secondary data sources, Collecting data with a survey, Spreadsheet rows, columns and cells and more

Years 5–6 Data & Information Word Search: Data, information and binary representation and Acquiring and manipulating data (Modules 1–20) 20 words to find · Data and information, Types of data: numbers and text, Types of data: images, sound and video, Same data, different representations and more

Years 7–8 Data & Information Crossword: Acquiring, storing and validating data to Using digital tools and conventions (Modules 47–80) 10 clues · Creating a database table and entering records, Sorting and filtering a database table, Choosing which fields a query shows, Query criteria with comparison operators and more

Years 7–8 Data & Information Word Search: Representing data with binary to Using digital tools and conventions (Modules 9–80) 22 words to find · 8-bit binary numbers and the range 0 to 255, Converting a larger decimal number to binary, How many values n bits can store, Looking up characters in the ASCII table and more

Years 9–10 Data & Information Crossword: Data compression (Modules 6–16) 10 clues · Redundancy: repeated data that can be shortened, Lossless compression, Lossy compression, Run-length encoding: encoding text and more

Years 9–10 Data & Information Word Search: Data compression to Data privacy and the Australian Privacy Principles (Modules 6–132) 21 words to find · Redundancy: repeated data that can be shortened, Lossless compression, Lossy compression, Run-length encoding: encoding text and more

Crossword: Networks and Sharing Data and Representing Data with Numbers (Modules 44–57) 10 clues · Describing a network in short sentences, Binary means two states, On and off switches in everyday things, Encode and decode and more

Crossword: Representing Data with Numbers (Modules 59–71) 10 clues · Decoding run-length counts back into pixels, Why run-length encoding saves space, One bit gives two colours, Two bits give four shades: greyscale and more

Crossword: Representing Data with Numbers (Modules 73–84) 10 clues · Colouring cells by their number with a conditional formatting rule, Adding more rules for more colours, A black-and-white picture from 0s and 1s in a spreadsheet, Making pixel art with whole numbers in a spreadsheet and more

Crossword: Representing Data with Numbers and Algorithms with Branching and Repetition (Modules 85–104) 8 clues · The number 5 compared with the text "5", Sorting values into number, text or true/false, Operations on numbers: + - * /, Joining text together and more

Word Search: Networks and Sharing Data and Representing Data with Numbers (Modules 44–71) 20 words to find · Describing a network in short sentences, Binary means two states, On and off switches in everyday things, Encode and decode and more

Word Search: Representing Data with Numbers and Algorithms with Branching and Repetition (Modules 73–104) 21 words to find · Colouring cells by their number with a conditional formatting rule, Adding more rules for more colours, A black-and-white picture from 0s and 1s in a spreadsheet, Making pixel art with whole numbers in a spreadsheet and more

Frequently Asked Questions

Are these worksheets free?

Yes — every worksheet and its answer key is free to view, download, and print, with no account required to access any individual module.

Do I need an account?

No account is needed to view or print a worksheet. A free teacher account adds extras like assigning modules to a class and tracking progress automatically — it takes under three minutes to set up and doesn't need a credit card.

What year level is this for?

This curriculum is aligned to the Australian Curriculum (ACARA) and Victorian Curriculum, spanning roughly Years 3 to 10 — from first sequencing and variables through to object-oriented programming and advanced data structures. Start wherever matches your class's current level; each module builds on the last.

Can I print them?

Yes — every module has a one-click Print Worksheet button that generates a printable page with the practice questions and a full answer key.

Is this aligned to a curriculum?

Yes — the module sequence is mapped to the Australian Curriculum (ACARA) and Victorian Curriculum, and a class's progress is reported back against those curriculum bands (e.g. ACARA Years 5–6 sequencing and iteration, Years 7–8 functions and data structures), not just a generic difficulty scale.

Can students use this without a teacher?

Yes — students can start any module and practice directly, no class or account required. Joining a teacher's class with a class code adds progress tracking, class badges, and live Sprints, but isn't needed to work through the worksheets or modules solo.

Do I need to know ACARA Digital Technologies Years 5–6 myself to teach this?

No — every module comes with a full worked answer key, and Cloodit tracks who's stuck automatically, so you don't need to solve each exercise yourself before assigning it or be able to debug a student's work line by line.

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