Hardware/Software Unit

Computers in Our Lives

1. Home

2. Library

3. School

4. Church

5. Macy’s store

Different Types of Computers

1. Laptop2. Desktop3. Handheld

Computers Affect Our Lives

1. Students can type up essays and homework on computers

2. You can interact with people by e-mail or face-to-face.

3. You can order things online so you don’t have to go to a store.

4. You can look up information on the internet.

5. You can play games or check videos on computers.

Parts of a Computer

Mouse

Monitor

Keyboard

CPU (Central

Processing Unit)

Definition

All of the components are known as hardware. Hardware are the pieces you can touch. Of course, computers need instructions to run and do certain tasks. These instructions are packaged into programs. These programs are called software. Software is the programs that make the computer run.

List 5 pieces of software:

1. First Class

2. Internet Explorer

3. Google Earth

4. Microsoft Word

5. Microsoft PowerPoint

Monitors

Looks like a TV

Measured in inches diagonally across the screen.

CRT- CathodeRay Tube (largest)

LCD- Liquid Crystal Display (thin)

TFT-LCD- Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display

CPU- Central Processing Unit

The brains of the computer!

The processor determines how fast your computer performs tasks. It is measured in Hertz.

A HERTZ (Hz) is a measurement of cycles of electricity per second. The more hertz your computer has, the faster it can process.

Millions of hertz: MHz

Billions of hertz: BHz

Processors can be vertical or horizontal.

Hard Drive

Where all your files and software are stored

Size of your hard drive is measured in bytes.

A byte is the size of one character. Name a character. M

A byte can be broken down into the smallest form of measurement on your computer. The measurement is called a bit.

A bit is a code that the computer can understand to tell it to do something. It takes eight bits to create one byte, or letter.

BrainPop

Computer Measurement

Bit- smallest unit of computer measurement

Byte- one character, 8 bits = 1byte

Kilobyte

megabyte

gigabyte

Terabyte

petabyte

exabyte

Inside the Processor

Inside:

Hard Drive

Mother Board

Fan

Power Supply

Memory

Outside the Processor

Although the disk drives and ports are inside the computer, they are accessed from outside the computer

DVD Drive USB Port

Space for Floppy Disk Drive

Input Devices

Input devices are the things we use to enter information.

Information is entered through a variety of input devices, ranging from the simplest keyboards to more sophisticated voice-activated software.

Name some input devices

1. Keyboard

2. Mouse

3. Scanner

4. Touch Screen

5. Microphone

6. Webcam

7. Digital Camera

8. Wii Remote

Output Devices

Output devices are devises that allow us to see/hear our work.

Name some output devices.

1. Printer

2. Headphones

3. Monitor

4. Speakers

5.

Printers

Type of output device that allows information to be transferred onto paper or other material.

Types of Printers 1. Inkjet

2. Laser

Printer Colors

C: Cyan

M: Magenta

Y: Yellow

K: Black

Storage Devices

90% of the time, we are saving our work to the hard drive. However, many times, you need to take your work with you! Our FIRST removable storage device was the… Floppy Disk

First one was 8”, then 5 ½. It held 1.44MB (about one PowerPoint!)

Next was the CD (Compact Disc) CD-R (Allows computer to save only 1 time)

CD-RW (Allows computer to overwrite information many times)

Holds 700 MBs of information

Next was the DVD (Digital Video Disk) Looks like a CD

Holds 4.7 GBs of information!

Readable

ReadWrite

Storage Devices cont.

The newest way to store removable data is the Flash Drive! Comes in a range of sizes (125MB to 250 GBs!)

Plugs into the USB port

Another storage device used primarily in cameras is the memory cards. Other names for the memory cards are

Compact Flash

Memory Stick

XD

SD/ Micro SD