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Inside the Machine G3 to G5 / Week 01 / Tuesday
2/6
Week 01 · A computer is a system

Tuesday

Hardware and software
// Hardware, software and the path from input to output
⏱ about 15 min

Tuesday: Hardware and software

The tablet is charged now, and it wakes up. Rocket taps a drawing app, but it opens very slowly. "Maybe the screen is broken!" he says.

Raven taps the screen. It works fine. "What do you notice?" she asks. "The screen works, but the app is slow."

Nova dims her lights to think. "Some problems live in the parts you can touch," she says. "Some live in the instructions. Would you like a hint? Can you touch an app?"

Hardware: the parts you can touch

Hardware is every part of a computer you can touch. The screen, the keyboard, the speaker and the case are all hardware.

Hardware also includes the parts hidden inside the case. The processor, the memory chips and the battery are hardware too.

Hardware can crack, bend, get wet or wear out. Those are hardware problems.

Software: the instructions

Software is the set of instructions that tells the hardware what to do. You cannot touch it or drop it.

Apps, games and web browsers are software. The operating system is software too. It is the main program that runs the device and starts the apps.

Software can have mistakes in it. A mistake in software is called a bug. Software can also get stuck or be out of date.

HardwareSoftware
ScreenDrawing app
KeyboardOperating system
SpeakerGame
BatteryWeb browser
MouseVideo call app

Hardware and software need each other. A screen with no software shows nothing. An app with no screen cannot be seen.

ItemIs it hardware?
The keyboard?
A math game?
The battery inside a tablet?
The operating system?
WHY THIS EXERCISEHardware is anything you can touch. Software is instructions, so you can never hold it.
What is the name for a mistake in software?
WHY THIS EXERCISEProgrammers call a software mistake a bug. Finding bugs is a normal part of making software.
HARDWARE PROBLEM OR SOFTWARE PROBLEM?
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
The screen has a crack across one corner.
A game freezes every time a new level starts.
One key on the keyboard sticks down.
An app says it needs an update.

Back in the Fix-It Bay, the crew tests the tablet. The screen taps work. The buttons work. Only the drawing app is slow.

Raven writes it down: hardware works, software slow. Rocket closes a few other apps that were open. The drawing app speeds up.

The parts of a computer you can touch are called what?
The instructions a computer follows are called what?
The main program that runs a device and starts apps is the operating what?

Here is a quick test you can use any time. Could the problem fall on the floor and crack?

If yes, it is a hardware problem. If no, it is probably a software problem.

Technicians check hardware first, because it is easier to see. Then they look at the software.

Could a bug in a game fall on the floor and crack? Answer yes or no.
WHY THIS EXERCISESoftware has no weight and no shape. Only hardware can crack, bend or get wet.
Try it
Name three pieces of hardware you can see right now.
Then name three pieces of software you have used this week.
Tell a grown-up one difference between the two lists.

Nice sorting, Crew Technician! You can tell hardware from software now. Tomorrow you will follow information on its journey through a computer.

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