Don't Be Sad....

Today's The Last Day for Mister Andy....

We have learned so much about computers and the school year is over.

Since today is the last day for me I will answer any questions about computers you might have.

I can Help you get an email or even make your own blog.

If you would like to go to some cool web sites here are some links.
www.Funbrain.com
http://www.invent.org/
http://www.exploratorium.edu/
http://www.ustreas.gov/kids/
http://www.thetech.org/robotics/
http://www.strangematterexhibit.com/
http://www.howstuffworks.com/

Have Fun and have a great summer.

Mr. Peanut want's your money.

Today's assignment... Why I don't like Mr. Peanut

People always ask me.."Mr. Andy Why don't you like Mr. Peanut?"

Hopefully after todays class you will understand why.
We are going to look at how advertising affects us by going to this website. Explore this site and do the activities so that you have a better idea of how advertising impacts you.

If you are a fan of Mr. Peanut here is an article all about him.

Then...if you are still following along, this page rates the top five icons of 2004, and yes Mr. Peanut is on there.

Make sure you check out the part about food stylists . Be sure to look at this page and check out all the fake food. Have you eaten any of this stuff?

Advertising is all aroud us and Mr. Peanut is just one of many people who wan't to sell you stuff.

Start paying attention to the advertisments around you, don't let Mr. Peanut and others like him persude you into buying stuff.

Here are some questions to think about next time the internet says you have won something, or you are playing "free" games.

What is the purpose of Advertisements?
Why do companies put advertisements on their website? How do ads try to capture your attention?
Should you ever give out your personal information on the Internet? NO
Am I being advertised to right now ?

Todays assignment ....A Million dollars? A Job?

Today we will pretend that we have been given a million dollars....
Make A powerpoint presentation showing the top three things you would buy, one on each slideyou should use pictures from the web.
On your third slide show a career that would let you buy these things.
You can pick a fun career by going to this web page Career Key
and take the career test . This should be fun.

Exploring Computers

This Is todays task....
All you have to do is read this post and answer the questions with a word document.
Good Luck

Hardware and Software

Computers are made up of hardware and software. Hardware is the tangible, physical equipment that can be seen and touched. Examples of hardware are things such as the keyboard, printer, monitor, and computer chips.

Software is the intangible instructions that tell the computer what to do. Software are things such as Carmen SanDiego, KidPix, ClarisWorks, or Oregon Trail. People who write software (instructions that tell the computer what to do) are called programmers.

Programmers write instructions, or programs, to the computer so that it is able to execute a task or operate properly. A program can be defined as a series of detailed step-by-step instructions that tell the computer precisely what actions to perform.

1. a. What is hardware? _____________________________
b. What is software? _____________________________________________

2. a. What is a program? ___________________________________________
b. Who writes programs? ________________________________________

Many people believe that computers can do just about anything and that their level of sophistication requires a genius to program and run them. In reality, computers are very simple devices that can perform only four basic functions. A computer can (1) store data and programs, (2) function unattended due to its ability to interpret and follow instructions it is provided, (3) do arithmetic calculations, and (4) perform logical comparisons. What makes the computer such a powerful device, given only these four basic functions, is its tremendous speed, its accuracy, and its ability to store vast volumes of data.

3. What three things make the computer such a powerful tool? ________________
4. Name 2 basic functions of the computer and give an example of the function. ____________

Memory

The computer must be given instructions, in the form of software, which tell it exactly what to do. The instructions that the computer follows are stored in locations known as memory. For simplicity purposes think of memory in two categories:
(1) The computer's Internal memory (ex. microchips)
(2) The computer's External memory (ex. diskettes & hard drives)

The computer's Internal memory which is composed of computer chips is divided into two types: RAM (random-access memory) and ROM (read-only memory). RAM's primary purpose is to temporarily store programs given to it by a programmer or operator of the computer. This type of memory is temporary because it is erased when the computer is turned off (powered down). In other words, all the information in RAM is erased when the computer is turned off. It is called random access because the processor can jump directly form one location to another in random order as the program is needed. RAM holds programs such as KidPix, ClarisWorks, Oregon Trail or whatever program the computer is operating under.

ROM's primary purpose is to store important instructions that the computer will reuse over and over such as what to do when the computer is turned on and how to control specific requests made by the computer. ROM is permanent memory that can not be changed or erased. This is why it is called Read-Only Memory.

5. ROM stands for: ______________________________
and RAM stands for: ___________________________
6. What is the purpose of the ROM and RAM memory?
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
7. What is the difference between ROM and RAM? ___________________________________________
___________________________________________
______________________________________________

Input and Output devices

A hardware device which enables the computer to accept data is called an input device. The most common example of an input device is a keyboard. Other commonly known input devices include a joystick, mouse, bar-code scanner, light pen, touch display screen, speech recognition device, and graphic tablet.

A hardware device which reports the information in a form we can understand is called an output device. The two most common forms of output devices are monitor, and printer. Other examples include sound or music synthesizers, speech synthesizers, real-time controllers, and robots.
Questions

8. What is the function of an input device? ______________________________
Give an Example: ________________
9. What is the function of an output device? ______________________________
Give an Example: ________________
10. What is one function of the processor? ______________________________
11. What is the CPU often referred to as? ______________________

Processors
All computers do processing by following a series of instructions in a software program. The computer chip that receives and carries out these instructions is called the processor. All computer systems, regardless of size or manufacturer, have processors (also referred to as central processing units or CPUs).

The processor performs many different functions. It receives and temporarily stores instructions as well as the data to be processed. It moves and changes stored data. It does arithmetic calculations. It makes decisions of logic, such as determining if two numbers are equal. It directs the action of the input and output devices. The CPU is often referred to as the brains of the computer system.

External or Auxiliary Storage

Nearly all general-purpose computers include the ability to connect to additional storage devices that hold data outside the memory of the computer. These additional storage devices are known as external or auxiliary storage. External storage devices are on-line to the computer; that is, they are connected directly to the computer. They are, therefore, under the control of the processor and can be used at all times. The most common form of external storage is a disk drive. Other forms of external storage include hard drives and CD- ROM drives.

The disk drive records data in a method similar to that used by a cassette tape recorder. The information is actually magnetically encoded into the floppy disk. External storage is used to hold computer programs so they may be read into the computer's random-access memory (RAM) when they are needed. Large amounts of data may also be stored on external storage. Remember from an earlier section that data is stored in RAM temporary. Therefore, any data that is needed to be kept for future use is usually recorded on a magnetic disk before the computer is powered down.

12. What is an external storage device? _______________________________
13. What are 2 examples of external storage _______________________________
14. Why is it important to have an external storage device? __________________
_____________________________________________________________


MicroChips

Scientists in the United States and Japan are trying to overcome the physical limits of chip design technology that began less than three decades ago. Each country is rushing to be the first to develop microcomputer chips that contain one billion transistors.

Transistor technology preceded chip technology. Transistors were smaller, more efficient, and more reliable than their predecessors the vacuum tubes. The major limitation of transistors was in their limited number of interconnections. In other words, because of the sophisticated circuitry of computers, an enormous number of connections between transistors was required. Unlike the number of transistor connections needed in a radio, the number of transistor connections in computers extends into the millions. Chip technology solved the interconnections problem by placing several transistors on a tiny silicon surface. Thus, computer power and storage capabilities expanded dramatically.

The number of transistors which can be placed on a chip has increased from fewer than ten in the early chips to thousands in the chips used today. Chip technology has enabled the chip's capacity to double every year since its creation until just a few years ago. However, today's chip designers have run into a problem concerning the physical limitations of a single chip; therefore, the interconnections problem of the transistor technology has resurfaced.

The Computer's World

To help you understand how the computer works, imagine that each character is represented inside the computer by a series of electronic switches. In many ways, these electronic switches can be compared to the light switches in our home. A light switch can be in only one of two states: on or off. The circuits inside the computer can be thought of in much the same way as the light switches. The electronic switches can be either on or off. Since on and off represent only two conditions, it is impossible to directly store numbers or letters. Instead, they are converted into binary numbers. Binary means "consisting of two things", so a binary number is made by using only two digits, 0 and 1. Our and much of the world's number system is based on the 10 system but the computer's system is based on the Binary system. Therefore the binary number system is the only coding system the computer actually understands.

15. Why is it that a computer must thing in terms of 0 and 1 and not use 3 to 9 like we do? ______________________________________________
16. Explain what is meant by electronic switches? ______________________
17. What made the microchip so very important to the computer revolution? _______________
18. What remains as one problem that researchers face with microchips? _________________

Imagine eight on/off switches grouped inside the computer. It takes eight switches (Bits) to store one character (letter, symbol, or space). As shown below 01010011 is the way the computer understands the letter S. A combination of eight switches (bits) is called a byte in computer terminology. The computer groups eight bits together to form a byte because it has proven to be a good combination for the computer to handle.

0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 S

By using eight bits to turn various switches on and off, there are 256 different combinations possible. In the binary number system, there can be as many 0's and 1's as needed within the eight switches to represent a particular number. Each 0 can be thought of as representing a switch that is turned off, while each 1 represents a switch that is turned on.

Each time a key on a keyboard is struck, a binary number is generated in the computer via electronic signaling (see example above). Inside the computer, the binary number is stored in a memory chip. All data inside the computer is represented by the use of binary numbers.

19. Explain what a bit and byte are. _____________
20. What are the two digits used in binary numbers and what does each number mean to the computer? ______________________________________

We have now learned that the processor and memory (both ROM and RAM) are made up of electronic circuits that represent information by turning switches off and on. And we learned that eight switches or bits make up a byte and each byte can store one character of data.

If we were to key in the name Ernest Grover, it would take thirteen (13) bytes to store the name in RAM. The space between the first and last name would require one byte, and the (12) twelve letters of the name would require twelve bytes.


E r n e s t G r o v e r =13 bytes-used


Computer manufacturers express the capacity of memory in terms of the letter K. K is short for Kilobyte, which means 1024 bytes of computer memory. Many times you hear a computer owner say his or her computer has 64K of memory. This means that the computer has approximately 64,000 bytes of memory and has the capacity to store up to 64,000 characters during processing in RAM. Many disks, hard drives, and CDs can store hundreds, thousands, and even millions more memory than the RAM chips in a computer. For example an average floppy disk can hold 800K or 800,000 bytes; and an average hard drive can hold 40MB which is 40,000,000 bytes and a CD hold up to 500MB of information. If a MB (megabyte) is 1 million bytes then 1 GB (gigabyte) is 1000 million bytes. That's more bites than a mosquito does in a lifetime.