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Inside the Machine G3 to G5 / Week 04 / Crew Quest
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Week 04 · Memory and storage

Crew Quest

Crew Quest: The Workbench Game
// The workbench and the shelf
⏱ about 15 min

Crew Quest: The Workbench Game

It is quiet in the Fix-It Bay, so the crew invents a game. Rocket clears a tray. "This is the workbench," he says. Raven points to a shelf. "And that is storage."

Nova flickers her lights. "Would you like a hint? Someone needs to be the power. When the power goes off, the workbench is cleared."

Rocket laughs. "Let's play!"

  1. Memory is the fast workbench. It holds work in progress.
  2. Memory empties when the power goes off. That is called volatile.
  3. Storage is the shelf. It keeps files without power, using magnets or trapped charge.
  4. Saving copies work from memory to storage.
  5. Sizes: eight bits make a byte. Kilo, mega and giga mean thousand, million and billion.
◇ THE WORKBENCH GAME
You need a tray, a shelf or box, scrap paper and a pencil.
One player is the processor. One player is the power.
The processor writes a word on a scrap and puts it on the tray. That is memory.
To save, the processor copies the word onto a new scrap for the shelf.
At any moment the power player calls "Power off!" and sweeps the tray clear.
Count how many words survived on the shelf. Then swap jobs and play again.
Safety first
Use a light tray and soft scraps of paper only.
Keep the game on a table, not near any real device or cable.
For a grown-up
Ask: which words were lost, and why? What would have saved them?
Connect the game to real life: saving a drawing or a story before closing.
GAME REVIEW
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
In the game, what does the tray stand for?
What does copying a word to the shelf stand for?
Which words survive a power off?
StatementTrue or false?
The power player stands for the battery or the plug.?
Words on the tray are safe when the power goes off.?
The shelf stands for storage.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEActing out memory and storage helps you remember which place forgets and which one keeps.

You finished week four! Next week the crew follows the cables to see how the parts talk.

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