Intro to SQLfor Organizing
Module 4 · Your First Query: SELECT, FROM, LIMIT › 4.5 Starter query checkpoint
Subsection 4.5

Starter query checkpoint

~3 min

Reading

By the end of Module 4, you should have one working SQL query.

It does not need to be complex. It needs to run.

A strong starter query has:

  • SELECT with either * or specific columns.
  • FROM with the full table path.
  • Backticks around the table path.
  • LIMIT to keep the result small while testing.

Checkpoint example:

SELECT contact_id, zip_code, signup_date, source
FROM `team.signups`
LIMIT 100;

This query tells BigQuery:

  • Return the contact ID, zip code, signup date, and source columns.
  • Read from the team.signups table.
  • Show only the first 100 rows.

A starter query is not the final finding. It is the stable base you will build on when you add filters, sorting, grouping, and summaries.

Checkpoint

Paste your starter query into the brief. Then write one sentence explaining what the query returns.

Add the Starter query section to your Organizer Query Brief.

Brief section template

Starter query SQL: SELECT [columns] FROM `project.dataset.table` LIMIT 10; - Rows returned: [N] - Bytes processed: [N] DISTINCT check on [column]: - Unique values returned: [N] - One observation: [e.g. "I expected ~50 states, saw 56 because territories are included."]

Knowledge check

Wrapping the table path

Which character does BigQuery use to wrap a fully qualified table name like bigquery-public-data.usa_names.usa_1910_current?

You earned the First Query badge

You can write and run a working BigQuery SELECT. You know why backticks and commas matter. DISTINCT is in your toolkit for sanity-checking columns. In Module 5 you'll filter rows with WHERE, combine conditions, handle NULLs, and sort with ORDER BY.

Next: Module 5 · Filtering and Sorting: WHERE, ORDER BY, LIMIT

Continue to Module 5