Lesson 1: Computer Systems and System Software PDF

Lesson 1: Computer systems and system software KS4 - Computer systems  Starter activity What makes a computer? Which of these devices are computers? Do they have the characteristics you discussed? Mobile phone Video game console A tablet Calculator Sma...

Lesson 1: Computer systems and system software KS4 - Computer systems  Starter activity What makes a computer? Which of these devices are computers? Do they have the characteristics you discussed? Mobile phone Video game console A tablet Calculator Smart watch Laser pointer Coffee machine 2  Starter activity What makes a computer? What characteristics does a device need to have to be considered a computer? Discuss with the person next to you. 3  Starter activity What is a computer? A programmable device that takes in data, processes it into useful information, and then outputs the information so it can be used. This is often described in the computing cycle you can see on the right. 4  Objectives Lesson 1: Computer systems and system software In this lesson, you will: Define an embedded system Compare embedded and general purpose computer systems Describe the role of system software as part of a computer system Explain the role of the operating system and utility software 5  Activity 1 Spot the embedded systems Both a mobile phone and a coffee maker are computers, but they are very different devices. Computer systems can be categorised as either: General purpose Embedded systems How would you categorise the mobile phone and coffee maker? 6  Activity 1 Spot the embedded systems Mobile phone: General purpose Coffee maker: Embedded system 7  Activity 1 Spot the embedded systems General purpose computers are devices that have a variety of uses, the user chooses the task for the computer to complete. Embedded systems are more specialised, they can only do a limited number of things, but they do them very well. 8  Activity 1 Spot the embedded systems Inside this room there are lots of computers. Some of them are general purpose and others are embedded systems. On your own, sort them into two lists. 1. Embedded 2. General purpose 9  Activity 1 Spot the embedded systems General purpose: Used for many different types of tasks Lots of resources — memory, storage, CPU cores Most tasks require a user Embedded systems: ? ? 1 0  Activity 1 Spot the embedded systems Embedded systems Coffee machine Vacuum robot Thermostat Security system Bluetooth speaker …? 1 1  Activity 1 Spot the embedded systems General purpose: Used for many different types of tasks Lots of resources — memory, storage, CPU cores Most uses require a user Embedded systems: Specialised to a specific task/set of tasks Limited resources Often function without a user 1 2  Activity 2 Embedded systems in the classroom What computers and devices can you spot in the classroom? Can you find any embedded systems? 1 3  Activity 3 The start-up sequence Computers work due to a combination of: Hardware components Software You are going to examine how they work by looking at what happens when you press the power button. First, you need to learn about some important components. 1 4  Activity 3 The start-up sequence The CPU The central processing unit, is a large chip inside the computer. It is the brains of the computer: it controls everything. 1 5  Activity 3 The start-up sequence RAM Random access memory RAM is both readable and writable. You can add, change, and delete data stored in RAM. It is volatile. When the computer is switched off, all the data stored in RAM is lost. It is fast to read/write. 1 6  Activity 3 The start-up sequence ROM Read-only memory ROM is read-only ROM is non-volatile memory, which means it does not need power to keep the data inside it It is also fast 1 7  Activity 3 The start-up sequence Hard drive The hard drive, which contains multiple hard disks, is the main storage device in your computer. If you have files and folders on your computer, they are stored on the hard drive. The operating system is also stored on the hard drive. 1 8  Activity 3 The start-up sequence BIOS Contains all the basic code for controlling your computer hardware (such as keyboards, mice, monitors, and hard drives). When you start up your computer, you may see a black screen displaying ‘Press F2 for Setup’. This is the BIOS. 1 9  Activity 3 The start-up sequence Your worksheet has the steps your computer goes through when you press the power button. There is space for you to number the steps to put them in the right order. You can do this with a partner, we will go through the steps after this. 2 0  Activity 3 The start-up sequence 1. The boot sequence begins 2. CPU starts up and fetches the BIOS from ROM 2 1  Activity 3 The start-up sequence 3. Instructions from BIOS are loaded into RAM 2 2  Activity 3 The start-up sequence 4. BIOS starts up the monitor and keyboard 2 3  Activity 3 The start-up sequence 5. BIOS checks your computer is working 2 4  Activity 3 The start-up sequence 6. Operating system is fetched from secondary storage 2 5  Activity 3 The start-up sequence 7. Operating system is loaded into RAM 2 6  Activity 3 The start-up sequence 8. The BIOS hands over control to the operating system 2 7  Activity 4 Operating systems and system software Most computer systems require more than just a program to run. Another layer of software is required called system software. There are two main types of system software 1. Operating systems 2. Utility software 2 8  Activity 4 Operating systems and system software Software IDE eo Browsers s i d V ers y Vi pla de System o ga software m ext s Encryption Interpreters es T or d it n g e i t s BI a r m OS pe ste Hardware O y s CPU Peripheral s Storage Memory 2 9  Activity 4 Operating systems and system software Operating systems are pieces of software that regulate interactions between software and hardware. There are lots of different operating systems. The most popular are: Windows macOS Linux Android 3 0  Activity 4 Operating systems Roles of the operating system: Error handling Program management Memory management Interaction with the user Processor management Input and output Security File management 3 1  Plenary The roles of an operating system Error handling When a program fails or encounters a problem, the operating system protects the wider system from crashing. Program management Often our computers are running multiple processes at once. The operating system makes sure that each application has enough resources to accomplish its tasks. Memory management The operating system controls where each piece of data is stored in RAM. 3 2  Plenary The roles of an operating system Interaction with the user The operating system provides a graphical user interface which makes operating the computer much simpler. Processor management Instructions are executed by the CPU, but the operating system controls which instructions are fed in to be executed. Input and output The operating system captures data from peripherals and provides data to the output devices to display to the user. 3 3  Plenary The roles of an operating system Security The operating system stops unauthorised individuals from accessing data on secondary storage or the data in memory. File management When you save data to your hard drive, the operating system will find an available section of storage and send the data to be written to that location. 3 4  Summary Next lesson In this lesson, you… Next lesson, you will… Discovered the difference Revise the computer systems between embedded and general content covered so far purpose systems Create a quiz using all the Described the role of an questions you have been writing operating system Test yourselves by completing Explained the uses of utility each other’s quizzes software 3 5