What's Inside a Computer? Meet the Machines You Use Every Day
A tablet, a video game console, and a microwave all have something hidden inside them: a tiny brain made of metal and glass called a chip. That chip is what lets the microwave count down from 60 seconds and lets your tablet show a cartoon.
What You'll Learn
- Name three machines that use a computer chip - Explain what "input" and "output" mean using simple examples - Point to the parts of a device: screen, buttons, and power button - Try turning a device on and off safely
Every Device Has a Job
A toaster only has one job: make bread warm and crispy. But a tablet can do many jobs — show pictures, play music, and let you draw. That's because a tablet has a computer chip inside, and toasters do not. Computers follow instructions called programs. A program for a game tells the screen what to draw. A program for a calculator tells it how to add numbers.
Input and Output
When you press a button or tap a screen, that is called INPUT — it means you are telling the computer something. When the computer shows a picture, plays a sound, or lights up, that is called OUTPUT — it means the computer is telling YOU something. Example: You tap a picture of a cat (input). The tablet makes a meow sound (output).
The chip inside a smartphone is smaller than a fingernail, but it can do billions of tiny calculations every single second.
Match each action to whether it is INPUT or OUTPUT.
Terms
Definitions
Drag terms onto their definitions, or click a term then click a definition to match.
Which of these is an example of INPUT?
Why can a tablet do many different jobs while a toaster can only do one?
Input or Output Hunt
Walk around your home or classroom with a grown-up. Find 4 things with buttons or screens (like a microwave, remote control, or phone). For each one, draw a picture and write one INPUT you can do to it and one OUTPUT it gives back. Turn in your 4 drawings.
Next time you use a device, ask yourself: 'What did I just do?' (input) and 'What did the machine just do back?' (output).
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