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Inside the Machine G3 to G5 / Week 02 / Crew Quest
6/6
Week 02 · Input and output

Crew Quest

Crew Quest: The Human Machine
// Devices that take information in and send it out
⏱ about 15 min

Crew Quest: The Human Machine

The Fix-It Bay is closed for the day. "I want to be a computer!" Rocket says. Raven laughs. "Then we need an input, a processor and an output."

"What do you notice about us?" she asks. "We have ears, a brain and a voice. We can act it out."

Nova dims the lights like a stage. "A machine is just a path from in to out," she says. "Would you like a quest? Build the path with people."

  1. Input devices send information in: keyboard, mouse, microphone, camera.
  2. Output devices send results out: screen, speaker, printer, lights.
  3. Sensors measure the world and send numbers in.
  4. A touchscreen does both jobs at once.
  5. Test one job at a time when a device acts up.
◇ THE HUMAN MACHINE
You need two or three people and some paper cards.
Pick one person to be the input device. Pick one to be the processor. Pick one to be the output device.
The input person whispers a simple message to the processor, like draw a star.
The processor decides what to do and taps the output person on the shoulder.
The output person draws the star on paper.
Swap jobs and try a new message. Then try a sensor: the input person says what they see out the window.
Talk about what happened when one person was missing.
Safety first
Play in a clear space with nothing to trip over.
Use gentle taps on the shoulder, never pushes.
For a grown-up
Ask your child to name the input, process and output in each round.
Try one round where the input person covers their mouth. What does the machine do?
Point out that a real processor does millions of these steps every second.
QUEST CHECK
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
In the game, who plays the input device?
Who plays the output device?
The input person covers their mouth. What happens to the machine?
StatementTrue or false?
A sensor is an input device.?
A speaker can hear your voice.?
A touchscreen is both input and output.?
A machine with no input still knows what you want.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEEvery computer needs input to know what to do. It needs output to tell you the result.
Draw your human machine. Label the input person, the processor person and the output person.

Quest complete, Crew Technician! You built a machine out of people. Next week you will look closely at the part in the middle: the processor.

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