Parts, Bits and Switches: teacher key

How Computers Work, grade 7 edition, written for 7th grade. A tour of what a computer is made of: its processor and memory, how it stores things as bits, and the switches inside.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What does the control unit do?
   • Follows the program's instructions (answer)
   • Draws pictures
   • Stores files
2. What connects the parts of a computer?
   • A pixel
   • The bus (answer)
   • A relay
3. Are four cores four times as fast as one?
   • Yes
   • Only in games
   • No (answer)
4. What did transistors replace in computers?
   • Vacuum tubes (answer)
   • Hard drives
   • Pixels
5. Which can be far slower: RAM or a hard drive?
   • A hard drive (answer)
   • RAM
   • They are the same

Words

• processor: follows the instructions
• transistor: solid state switch
• bus: set of wires
• cores: semi-independent CPUs