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Senior 4 · ICT

Google Docs

5 lessons

Lesson 3 of 5

Lists and Tables

24 min

Planning a science fair stand

An S4 group is preparing a stand for the school science fair: a water filter built from sand, gravel and charcoal. Their planning document needs three different kinds of information. The steps to build the filter must be followed in order. The materials to collect can be gathered in any order. The jobs must show who does what, and by when.

Written as ordinary paragraphs, all of it is hard to follow. A word processor gives a structure for each kind: a numbered list for the steps, a bulleted list or checklist for the materials, and a table for the jobs.

Definition

Bulleted list: items marked with a symbol, used when the order does not matter. Numbered list: items numbered 1, 2, 3 (or a, b, c), used when order matters or items will be referred to by number. Checklist (Google Docs only): items with tick boxes that can be checked off.

Nested (multilevel) list: a list with sub-items indented under items, for example 1, then a and b under it.

Table: information arranged in rows (across) and columns (down). Each box is a cell. The first row, naming what each column holds, is the header row. A merged cell is two or more cells joined into one.

Making lists

List	Toolbar	Shortcut	Use when
Numbered	Numbered list button	Ctrl + Shift + 7	Steps in order; ranked items; questions
Bulleted	Bulleted list button	Ctrl + Shift + 8	Items of equal weight in any order
Checklist	Checklist button	Ctrl + Shift + 9	Tasks to tick off

Sub-items: press Tab at the start of an item to indent it one level (1 becomes a); Shift + Tab moves it back out. Pressing Enter twice ends the sub-list.
Changing the bullet or number style: click a bullet or number, then Format → Bullets & numbering.
Restarting numbering: double-click the first number, then Format → Bullets & numbering → List options → Restart numbering, and type the start number. Continue previous numbering joins a list to the one before it.

Worked example 1: choose the list type

Content	List	Reason
Building the filter: cut the bottle, add cotton wool, then charcoal, then sand, then gravel, then pour the water	Numbered	The layers only work in this order; "step 4" can be referred to.
Materials: a plastic bottle, cotton wool, charcoal, fine sand, gravel	Checklist	Any order; each item is ticked when it has been collected.
Safety rules: wash hands after handling charcoal; do not drink the filtered water	Bulleted	Rules of equal importance in no order.
Questions for the judges, each with two sub-points	Nested numbered list	Numbers for the questions, letters a and b for the sub-points, made with Tab.

The last rule matters: filtering removes mud, not germs, so the water still has to be boiled or treated before anyone drinks it.

Making tables

Insert → Table, then move across the grid and click to choose the number of columns and rows; Google Docs can insert up to 20 × 20 cells this way. Type in a cell, and press Tab to move to the next cell (Tab in the last cell adds a new row).

Right-click any cell for the table commands:

Insert row above / below, Insert column left / right; Delete row, Delete column, Delete table.
Merge cells: select the cells, right-click, Merge cells (and Unmerge cells to undo it). Split cell divides one cell into several.
Distribute rows / Distribute columns: make them all the same size.
Sort table: ascending or descending by the column you right-click.
Table options: column width and row height, cell padding, vertical alignment, and Pin header row(s), so a long table repeats its header row at the top of each page (pinned rows are also left out of sorting).

With cells selected, the toolbar shows border colour, border width, border dash and background colour, so you can shade the header row and thicken the outside border.

Jen Jonson: Table Formatting in Google Docs. Watch how cells are merged, how rows and columns are deleted, and how border and background colours are changed. Try each one in your own table as you watch.

Worked example 2: plan a table before inserting it

The group's job table must show four members (Ishimwe, Mutesi, Niyonzima, Umutoni), each member's job, the deadline and a "done" column, with a title row across the top that reads "Science fair jobs".

Columns: Name, Job, Deadline, Done: 4 columns.
Rows: 1 title row + 1 header row + 4 members = 6 rows. Insert a table 4 columns wide and 6 rows deep.
Title row: select the 4 cells of row 1, Merge cells, centre the text and make it bold.
Header row: shade row 2 and pin it as a header row.
Order: to list the jobs by deadline, right-click in the Deadline column and Sort table → ascending. Pin the title row and the header row first (pin 2 rows), so they are not sorted into the data. Dates sort correctly only if they are typed the same way, for example as 2026-11-03 rather than "3rd Nov".

Warning

Never build a table with spaces or tabs. Columns lined up with the space bar break as soon as one entry gets longer, and they cannot be sorted. Insert a real table.

Do not merge cells inside the data. Merge only titles and labels. A merged cell in the middle of a data table makes sorting and copying into a spreadsheet go wrong.

Tip

Order matters? Number it. If you would ever say "go back to step 3", the list must be numbered. If the items can be shuffled without loss, bullet them. If they will be ticked off, use a checklist.

✦

Hands-on: the science fair plan

Create a document Science fair plan in your S4 ICT folder, with a Title and three Heading 2 sections: Steps, Materials, Jobs.
Under Steps, type the six building steps as a numbered list. Give step 6 two sub-steps with Tab.
Under Materials, make a checklist of five items. Tick two.
Under Jobs, build the 4 × 6 table from worked example 2: merge the title row, shade the header row, give the outside border a width of 2 pt.
Sort the table by deadline.

Check: your three headings appear in the document outline, and the table still has its title and header rows at the top after sorting.

Practice

Define row, column, cell and header row.
State the list type you would use for: (a) the stages of mitosis; (b) things to pack for a school trip; (c) the members of a club committee; (d) the steps to restart a router.
How do you turn item 3 of a numbered list into sub-item 2a, and back again?
A table has 5 columns and 9 rows. How many cells does it have? After you merge the 5 cells of the first row, how many cells are there?
A table of 60 students runs over three pages, and readers lose track of the columns on pages 2 and 3. What should you do?
Plan a table for a week's class duty rota (5 days, 3 duties a day, plus a title row and a header row): give the number of columns and rows, and say which cells you would merge.
A student lined up a price list with the space bar. It looked fine until he changed the font. Explain what went wrong and how to fix it.
Evaluate this advice: "Merge the cells for students in the same class, so each class name appears only once."

Show answersHide answers

A row runs across the table; a column runs down; a cell is one box where a row and a column meet; the header row is the first row, naming what each column holds.
(a) Numbered (fixed order). (b) Checklist (tick off as you pack). (c) Bulleted (no order). (d) Numbered.
Click at the start of item 3 and press Tab; press Shift + Tab to move it back out.
$5 \times 9 = 45$ cells. Merging 5 cells into 1 removes 4: $45 - 4 = 41$ cells.
Pin the header row (Table options → Pin header row(s)) so it repeats at the top of every page.
For example: columns Day, Duty 1, Duty 2, Duty 3 (4 columns); rows: title + header + 5 days = 7 rows. Merge the 4 cells of the title row only.
Spaces have different widths in different fonts, so the columns moved. Put the list in a 2-column table (item, price), or use tab stops.
Poor advice for a data table. Merged cells stop the table being sorted and break when it is copied into a spreadsheet. Repeat the class name in every row and, if needed, sort by class so the groups sit together.

Quick check

Which content belongs in a numbered list rather than a bulleted list?

Key points

Numbered lists for order, bulleted lists for no order, checklists for tasks; Tab and Shift + Tab change a list level.
Insert → Table builds up to 20 × 20 cells; right-click for insert, delete, merge, split, distribute, sort and Table options.
Pin the header row of a long table; merge only titles and labels, never data.
Never line up columns with spaces: use a real table.

Sources and credits

Table (information), Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted by Ganzaa.
Commands checked against Add a numbered list, bulleted list, or checklist, Add and edit tables and Keyboard shortcuts for Google Docs, Google Docs Editors Help, Google (linked for reference, not copied).
Video: Table Formatting Google Docs, Jen Jonson, embedded from YouTube.
The scenario, table diagram and timetable (illustrative), worked examples, hands-on task and practice items were written by Ganzaa.

This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1Planning a science fair stand

2Making lists

3Making tables

4Hands-on: the science fair plan

Planning a science fair stand

Making lists

Making tables

Hands-on: the science fair plan