Year 10 Short Course GCSE ICT

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Year 10 Short Course GCSE ICT

• Sunday, 22 November 2009

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Starter

• http//www.teach-ict.com/gcse/hardware/parts/ch2/q
  uiz1.htm
• (Drag Drop exercise on Hardware Software)

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Todays lesson - objectives

• By the end of the lesson you will
• Know what theory you will need to understand by
  the time of the exam in year 11
• Have some feedback on the projects you handed in
  last term
• Understand and be able to identify the component
  parts of a computer system
• Provide evidence of work done last week by
  printing it out (work on Input and Output devices)

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Content

• Computer systems components and types of system
• Input and output devices
• Storage devices and media
• Introductory communications
• Data types and terminology
• Information management and effects of IT legal
  issues, implications, health and safety

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Computer systems components and types of system

• Hardware
• Hardware is the part of the computer that you can
  touch and see.  Hardware can include the monitor,
  keyboard, mouse, disk drives, printer and
  scanner.   
• Software
• The software running within the computer is
  needed to make the computer work. 
• Software are the instructions that tell the
  Central Processing Unit or CPU what to do.
• Some examples of software that you are probably
  familiar with are
• Word processing applications such as Microsoft
  Word
• Spreadsheet applications such as Microsoft Excel
• Presentation packages such as Microsoft
  PowerPoint.
• Computer games

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Central processing unit (CPU)

• This is the 'brain' of the computer.  It is where
  all the searching, sorting, calculating and
  decision making takes place. 
• The CPU collects all of the raw data from various
  input devices (such a keyboard or mouse) and
  converts it into useful information by carrying
  out software instructions. 
• The result of all that work is then sent to
  output devices such as monitors and printers.
• The CPU is a microprocessor - a silicon chip -
  composed of tiny electrical switches called
  'transistors'. 
• The speed at which the processor carries out its
  operations is measured in megahertz (MHz) or
  Gigahertz (GHz).   The higher the number of MHz
  the faster the computer can process information.
• A common CPU today runs at around 3 GHz or more.
• The Intel Pentium processor and the Athlon are
  examples of a CPU.

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Parts of a CPU CU (Control Unit)

• The Control Unit (CU) co-ordinates the work of
  the whole computer system. 
• It has three main jobs
• 1. It controls the hardware attached to the
  system.  The Control Unit monitors the hardware
  to make sure that the commands given to it by the
  current program are activated.
• 2. It controls the input and output of data, so
  all the signals go to the right place at the
  right time.
• 3. It controls the flow of data within the CPU.

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Parts of the CPU IAS (Immediate Access Store)

• The Immediate Access Store (IAS) holds the data
  and programs needed at that instant by the
  Control Unit.
• The CPU reads data and programs kept on the
  backing storage and stores them temporarily in
  the IAS's memory.
• The CPU needs to do this because Backing Store is
  much too slow to be able to run data and programs
  from directly.
• For example, lets pretend that a modern CPU was
  slowed down to carry out one instruction in 1
  second, then the hard disk (ie Backing Store)
  would take 3 months to supply the data it needs!
• So the trick is to call in enough of the data and
  programs into fast Immediate Access Store memory
  so as to keep the CPU busy.

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Parts of the CPU ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit)

• ALU stands for Arithmetic and Logic Unit. 
• It is where the computer processes data by either
  manipulating it or acting upon it. 
• It has two parts
• 1. Arithmetic part - does exactly what you think
  it should - it does the calculations on data such
  as 3 2.
• 2. Logic part - This section deals with carrying
  out logic and comparison operations on data. For
  example working out if one data value is bigger
  than another data value.

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Read Only Memory (ROM)

• Data stored on ROM is not erased when the power
  is switched off - it is permanent.  This is
  called 'non volatile memory'.
• This is held on a chip inside the processor and
  is used to hold data that cannot be changed by
  the user.  Programs related to the operating
  system are stored on ROM chips when the computer
  is manufactured.  This data will usually be the
  software that tells the computer how to load the
  operating system when it is switched on or
  re-booted.

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Random Access Memory (RAM)

• In contrast to ROM, RAM is volatile memory.  The
  data is held on a chip, but only temporarily. 
  The data disappears if the power is switched
  off.  Have you ever forgotten to save your work
  before the computer crashed?  When you log back
  on, your work has disappeared.  This is because
  it was stored in RAM and was erased when the PC
  switched off.  However, if you had saved your
  work from RAM to the hard disk, it would have
  been safe!
• A part of the RAM is allocated for the
  'clipboard'. This is the area that stores the
  information when you CUT, COPY and PASTE from
  within programs such as Microsoft Word and Excel.
  
• To enable the computer to run the advanced
  applications which you use everyday, the amount
  of RAM that is required is usually around 256
  Mb.  However, many computers are now sold with
  512 Mb and if you are a computer game enthusiast
  it is not uncommon to invest in 1 gigabyte of
  RAM!.

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Todays tasks

• Log on to your PC
• Print out the work you did last week WITH YOUR
  NAME ON IT!! ?
• Go to
• RMShared Documents
• ICT Information Communications Technology
• Key Stage 4
• Short Course GCSE
• Theory
• Parts of a computer
• And open up the worksheet ComputerComponentsWorks
  heet and fill it in!
• This PowerPoint presentation is in the same
  folder if you get stuck
• Print at the end of the lesson if complete
• AS YOU WORK, ASK ME IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT MARK
  YOUVE GOT FOR YOUR PROJECT SO FAR!

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Plenary

• What are the key terms youve learnt today?
• What do these terms mean?
• CPU
• ALU
• CU
• ROM
• RAM
• Why do we need both ROM and RAM in a computer?