History #s

The Journey Inside the Computer: Lessons 1 – 7

For the answers go to:

http://www97.intel.com/en/TheJourneyInside/ExploreTheCurriculum/EC_IntroductionToComputers/

Lesson 1

1. What is the name and age of one of the oldest calculating machines?

2. When were mechanical calculators invented?

3. Who invented the “first” true ancestorial computer? When was this? Did it work?

4. What allows today’s computers to do computing that wasn’t possible 200 years ago?

5. What was Stone Henge possibly used for?

6. What are the four parts of a computer?

Lesson 2

1. What are the physical parts of a computer called?

2. How is input processed by a computer?

3. What is the job of a microprocessor?

4. Again, what are the four components of a computer?

5. Do the Lesson 2, Activity 1: Which Does What?

Lesson 3

1. Define information processing.

2. What kind of information is processed these days?

3. Define input.

4. What devices do we use today for entering information?

5. How was information entered in the early stages of computers around 1945?

6.  What was this first computer called?

Lesson 4

1. What 2 kinds of information do computers store?

2. Which memory stores temporary information?

3. Which memory stores long term information?

4. Is RAM stored once the computer is shut off?

5. Can the data on ROM be changed?

6. What other 3 types devices are available for storing information?

7.  What material are hard drives made of?

8. How many megabytes of information can be stored on a cd-rom?

9. Why are floppy disks called “floppy”?

10. Try Activity 1: After you drag and drop the item it should say “THANK YOU… ” if you are correct.

11. Try Activity 2: How many pieces of paper are stored on a floppy disk, a cd, a dvd, and a hard drive?

Lesson 5

1. Where does all data and instructions pass through in the computer?

2. In what decade could all the processing functions be put onto a single chip?

3. When did Intel invent the first microprocessor?

4. What kind of chip is used in DVDs, remote controls, and electronic calculators? And what makes this chip different from microprocessors?

5.  What is the advantage of microprocessors?

Lesson 6

1.  What is output, give three examples.

2. What 3 steps does the microprocessor handle?

3. What is the difference between download and upload?

Lesson 7

1.  What advantages do computers have over humans in the game of chess?

2. How many times faster can a computer make a computation?

3. How much more data can a computer store?

4. In what sense are humans a lot smarter than computers?

5. If a computer was able to have original thought what would this be called?

6. Do you believe computers will ever be able to develop beyond humans?