Lesson 5: Components of a Computer

Computers are made up of many different parts.
When these parts are not combined with anything else, they are just parts.
When they are put together with the other parts the end results is a computer or even a computer system.

What do the parts do?

What is a computer system made up of?

The two basic parts of an computer system are
Hardware and Software.

Hardware

Hardware is any part of the computer you can touch or see.

Keyboard
Monitor
Printer
Disc Drive
Mouse

Assignment:

Technology Lab: Click on each hardware above and read the description. Create a chart using Appleworks 6 Spreadsheet. Write the name of the Hardware, a definition of the hardware and its function.
Save your work in your student work folder. Title your work: YourLastName_answers_hardware

See Example

Software

Software is a set of electronic instructions that tells computer what to do.

A software computer program is a step-by step set of instructions in computer-readable language.
Software tells the hardware how to process data.

One way to understand this:
Think about baking a cake.
All the ingredients to make the cake represent data.
The recipe itself, which gives you step-by-step instructions, represents the software.

The computers main job is to run programs.
Programs are instructions in a language that computers and programmers understand.

A programmer, or a team of programmers writes a program and saves it on a long-term storage device like a floppy drive, a hard disk or a CD-ROM.

Then, when you want to run that program, you type its name and the computer goes and gets the program off the hard drive, or wherever it is stored, and brings it into its short term storage, called RAM, and runs the program.

There are four basic categories of software programs which you use on your computer.
1. Application software helps you perform a specific task on your computer.
2. Utility or Operating System software tells your computer how to run.
3. Simulation software produces a model of real-life situations.
4. Educational software helps you to learn educational related topics.

Hardware is any part of the computer you can touch or see.

Software is a set of electronic instructions that tells computer what to do.

Lesson 5: Components of a Computer

Computers are made up of many different parts.
When these parts are not combined with anything else, they are just parts.
When they are put together with the other parts the end results is a computer or even a computer system.

What is a computer system made up of?

The two basic parts of an computer system are
Hardware and Software.

Hardware

Keyboard
Monitor
Printer
Disc Drive
Mouse

Assignment:

Technology Lab: Click on each hardware above and read the description. Create a chart using Appleworks 6 Spreadsheet. Write the name of the Hardware, a definition of the hardware and its function.
Save your work in your student work folder. Title your work: YourLastName_answers_hardware

See Example

Software

The computers main job is to run programs.
Programs are instructions in a language that computers and programmers understand.

A programmer, or a team of programmers writes a program and saves it on a long-term storage device like a floppy drive, a hard disk or a CD-ROM.

Then, when you want to run that program, you type its name and the computer goes and gets the program off the hard drive, or wherever it is stored, and brings it into its short term storage, called RAM, and runs the program.

Web Sites

Lesson 5: Components of a Computer

Computers are made up of many different parts. When these parts are not combined with anything else, they are just parts. When they are put together with the other parts the end results is a computer or even a computer system.

What is a computer system made up of?

The two basic parts of an computer system are Hardware and Software.

Hardware

Hardware is any part of the computer you can touch or see.

Keyboard Monitor Printer Disc Drive Mouse

Assignment:

Technology Lab: Click on each hardware above and read the description. Create a chart using Appleworks 6 Spreadsheet. Write the name of the Hardware, a definition of the hardware and its function. Save your work in your student work folder. Title your work: YourLastName_answers_hardware

See Example

Software

Software is a set of electronic instructions that tells computer what to do.

The computers main job is to run programs. Programs are instructions in a language that computers and programmers understand.

A programmer, or a team of programmers writes a program and saves it on a long-term storage device like a floppy drive, a hard disk or a CD-ROM.

Then, when you want to run that program, you type its name and the computer goes and gets the program off the hard drive, or wherever it is stored, and brings it into its short term storage, called RAM, and runs the program.

Web Sites

Computers are made up of many different parts.
When these parts are not combined with anything else, they are just parts.
When they are put together with the other parts the end results is a computer or even a computer system.

The two basic parts of an computer system are
Hardware and Software.

Keyboard
Monitor
Printer
Disc Drive
Mouse

Technology Lab: Click on each hardware above and read the description. Create a chart using Appleworks 6 Spreadsheet. Write the name of the Hardware, a definition of the hardware and its function.
Save your work in your student work folder. Title your work: YourLastName_answers_hardware

The computers main job is to run programs.
Programs are instructions in a language that computers and programmers understand.