CSCL: Unit 1 Grade 1

Lesson 1.2: Make your own computer

Recommendations: 2 sessions of 35 mins

Objectives
Agenda
In this lesson, students will:
❖ Understand the key components of 1. Introduction 10 mins
a computer and their purpose 2. Create the Motherboard 20 mins
❖ See the big picture and realize that 3. Create the Keyboard 20 mins
it is built of many small elements. 4. Create the Screen 10 mins
❖ Understand how they can 5. Final Touches 10 mins
personalize technology

Resources & Links

Preparation
❏ Video - What is a computer:
❏ Scrap paper for decoration https://youtu.be/9lVKcTNVD1Q
❏ Scissors, Tape, Glue ❏ Building a computer:
❏ Brightly colored pens or pencils https://www.youtube.com/watch?
❏ Appendix A, D, E, F (one per v=Pih_5TlpngY&feature=emb_logo
student) https://www.youtube.com/watch?
❏ Optional: Appendix G (one per v=QkyrC40w2j8&feature=emb_title
student) ❏ Additional resource: Hello Ruby
Blog - My First Computer Activity
http://blog.helloruby.com/post/
131553874873/for-educators-lesson-
plan-for-my-first-computer

Credits:

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Glossary

CPU = The Central Processing Unit is the processor. It is very smart and fast at calculating things. It is
super busy bossing around and telling the other components what to do.

Hard Drive = The hard drive stores data. It is slow, but it keeps good care of your pictures and games.

RAM = The Random Access Memory remembers all immediate things and runs between the CPU and
the Hard Drive but it forgets everything once the computer is shut down.

ROM = The Read Only Memory remembers all the important things and stuff that you don’t want to
accidentally remove or have disappear when the computer is shut down.

GPU = The Graphic Process Unit is showing things on the computer screen, but it has a bad memory and
it needs help of ROM and RAM.

Motherboard = The motherboard is the main circuit where other components are attached to and
helps them communicate between each other.

1. Introduction
If you have not covered it with your class in previous sessions, have a conversation with
the students regarding what is a computer. Students can share examples of computing
devices they know. Then watch the following video with your students:
● What is a computer: https://youtu.be/9lVKcTNVD1Q

Explain to students that they will create today their own computer. If you wish to, you can
watch this short video with them? https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Pih_5TlpngY&feature=emb_logo

2. Create the Motherboard

Today, students are going to start creating their own computer using paper, glue and
imagination.

Explain to the students that inside a computer, there are important components that work
together to make the computer function correctly. Can they remember from the video some of

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 CSCL: Unit 1 Grade 2

the names? All those components are attached to a big circuit called the motherboard.
Distribute a copy of Appendix A (Motherboard) to each of the students.

Ask them to cut around the different parts.

Explain each parts one by one, using the Appendix B as a visual help:

A. The CPU

The CPU: Central Processing Unit. This is the brain of the

computer. It is very powerful, and gives the computer the super
power of computing things very very fast.

Students glue the CPU on their motherboard.

B. The GPU
The GPU is the graphics processing unit. It is also like a brain but
focuses on creating the images that will be displayed on the
screen. Its superpower is to be an awesome artist with good
math skills.

Students glue the GPU on their motherboard

C. The Hard Drive

The Hard Drive is like a disk where we can store a lot of data like pictures, words, music or
movies.

Ask students to give examples of Discs in their life that store movies,
or songs or video games? Similarly, the Hard Drive could store the
same information but instead of having to insert a DVD or CD inside
the computer, the Hard Drive stays inside the computer all the time.
The superpower of the Hard Drive is to be able to remember a LOT
of information. You can put all your pictures since you were born on
a single hard drive.

Think about the Hard Drive as the memory of the computer, or a giant post-it where we can
read and write things. Students find their Hard Drive paper component. Students glue the Hard
Drive on their motherboard after cutting it.

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 CSCL: Unit 1 Grade 2

However, there is a challenge for the Hard Drive: it is rather slow retrieving information,
because of its size. To solve this problem, here comes the RAM

The RAM (Random Access Memory)

Nothing to do with the animal. The Random Access

Memory is the component that passes information from
the Hard Drive to the CPU. The information stored in the
RAM is not meant to stay there for a long time.

So why do we need RAM and why can’t the information go from the Hard Disk to the CPU
directly? Because the RAM is much faster, that’s its superpower. For information that is used a
lot or is manipulated while the CPU is doing a complicated calculation, it uses the RAM to keep
track of its data.

Think about the Hard Drive as a box in the attic that we would access once in a while, and the
RAM as your closet in your room that you need to access often.

What is the RAM’s weakness? When the computer is shut down, its data disappears.

Students glue the RAM on their motherboard after cutting it out.

D. The ROM (Read Only Memory)

The Rom, (Read Only Memory) is also a component to store
information. Very important information like the one that tells
the computer how to wake up when we press the ON button.
We put this information on a special component so that nobody
can delete it by mistake. Because you can only read the
information from the ROM and the computer cannot write in it,
we can think about it as a book

Students glue the ROM on their motherboard after cutting it out.

Once students have completed their motherboard, they can glue it on a thin piece of
cardboard or a thick piece of paper folded in half

Show them the items in Appendix C so they can identify the hardware parts with pictures of
what those parts look like in real life.

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3. Create the Keyboard

Distribute Appendix D to each student. Students cut the keyboard and glue it on a thin
cardboard or thick paper. Explain to students that if they want, they can customize their keys
on the keyboard by cutting each letter with the drawing of an animal and place it on the
corresponding part of the keyboard. Some of the keys are blank. Students can imagine what the
key would do and write the name (or draw on it). For example: Internet, Game...

Students notice that the order of letters on the keyboard is different from the order from the
alphabet. They can also write the letters themselves.

Once the keyboard is finished, they can attach it on top of their mother board with a strip of
tape.

4. Create the screen:

Students will need scissors, glue, tape, markers

Distribute a copy of Appendix E to each student. Students cut the screen and glue it on a thin
cardboard or thick paper. Explain to students that they are designing the computer of the
future. Therefore, they need to think about what their computer would be able to do and draw
a picture representing that functionality (For example: displaying the story and quiz about
dinosaurs...)

Another idea for their screen is to discuss the students what software they would like installed
on their computer and draw an icon representing the software. Talk with students that
software and hardware are 2 different things for the computer: the hardware are the physical
pieces that make up a computing device: a mouse, the RAM, the Hard Disk etc… The software is
the applications or programs one can install on a computer to use: an internet browser, a game,
a tool to make videos etc...They can brainstorm on what software they would like to invent in
the future and come up with an icon for it.

Once the screen is finished, they can tape it on top of the keyboard so that it can flap open like
a laptop.

5. Final touches
Distribute a copy of Appendix F to each student. Students cut the sticker from the paper.

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Explain to students that a serial number is a unique number that helps companies which
produces devices to identify each machine. If a machine is broken, the person who purchased it
can call the engineer and provide the serial number. The engineer can look it up and will
automatically know when the device was created, the type of hardware that were used etc… It
is easier to find replacement hardware.

Students come up with a serial number made up of letters and numbers and write it down on
their sticker.

What are the names of computers students know? Have a discussion with them (Apple,
MacBook, ChromeBook, Samsung). Students come up with a name for their own computer,
using their imagination. They write the name on the sticker.

Finally, students write their own name as the Engineer.

6. Practice
Students can use Appendix G to identify the different components inside a computer.

7. Wrap Up and Reflections

Reflection Points:

● What can your computer do?

● What problems will your computer solve?
● Your computer is small enough that you can put it in your backpack. Do you think the
first computers invented were that small?

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Appendix A
Motherboard

Hard
Drive

CPU RAM

GPU

ROM

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Appendix B
The components

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Appendix C
The components (Pictures)

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

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Hard Drive

Photo by William Warby

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Random Access Memory

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Read-only Memory

Photo by Thomas
Bresson.

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Appendix D
Keyboard

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Appendix E
Screen

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Appendix F
Sticker

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Appendix G

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