A First Look at the Web
Reading HTML tags
Read a line of HTML: find the opening and closing tags of an element, and say what a browser will show.
A web page is a plain text file with instructions mixed into the writing. Those instructions are called tags, and every one of them sits inside angle brackets. A browser reads the tags, uses them to decide how the writing should look, and then shows you the writing without the tags themselves.
Opening and closing
Most elements need two tags: an opening tag such as <p>, and a closing tag such as </p>. The only difference is the slash after the first angle bracket. Everything between the two tags belongs to that element, and everything outside them does not.
Worked example
What does a browser show for <h1>Arena Learn</h1><p>A free school.</p>?
Find the first element: it opens with <h1> and closes with </h1>, and the words Arena Learn sit between them.
Reading an element means finding its two tags first, and only then looking at what is trapped between them.
Try it together
Let us read this line together: <ul><li>Pen</li><li>Book</li></ul>
The ul element makes a bulleted list, and each li element is one item in it.
1.How many li elements are in that line?
Have a go
Have a go on your own. An element opens with the tag "<li>". Write the tag that closes it.
Ready to practise?
Eight questions on what you have just read. Nothing is timed, and you can play as many times as you like.