Unit 0 - COMPUTERS AND COMPUTING
Lesson 06 - LOGIC AND PROCESSORS
LESSON MATERIALS (You CAN ACCESS ONLY VIA @BERGEN.ORG ACCOUNT)
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Understand the fundamentals of logic gates and its use in implementing basic Boolean functions.
Vocabulary
- Transistor: a semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electronic signals and electrical power.
- Boolean: In Computer Science, a data type that has one of two possible values (usually denoted true and false), intended to represent the two truth values of logic.
Videos
- TED-Ed on How Transistors Work
- Khan Academy on Circuits & Logic
- Crash Course on CPUs
Notes
Supplementary Resources
- Numberphile on Domino Addition
- Crash Course on Boolean Logic & Logic Gates
- Computerphile on Inside the CPU
- See How Computers Add Numbers In One Lesson
Lesson 05 - ASCII & UNICODE
LESSON MATERIALS (You CAN ACCESS ONLY VIA @BERGEN.ORG ACCOUNT)
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Use the decimal number system when designing ways to represent other information in binary.
- Explain how bits are grouped to represent abstractions like numbers and text.
Notes
LECTURE (VIDEOS)
- David's Lecture (Youtube) : 12:05 to 13:53
- Nate's Short (Youtube)
- David's Lecture (MP4 download) : 12:05 to 13:53
- Nate's Short (MP4 download)
Supplementary Resources
- Video: Number Systems - Converting Decimal, Binary and Hexadecimal
- Video: Computerphile on Characters, Symbols, and the Unicode Miracle
- Global Unicode Characters
- Video: Understanding ASCII and Unicode (GCSE)
Vocabulary
- Abstraction - a simplified representation of something more complex. Abstractions allow you to hide details to help you manage complexity, focus on relevant concepts, and reason about problems at a higher level.
- ASCII - American Standard Code for Information Interchange; the universally recognized raw text format that any computer can understand
- Protocol - A set of rules governing the exchange or transmission of data between devices.
Lesson 04 - HEXADECIMAL
LESSON MATERIALS (You CAN ACCESS ONLY VIA @BERGEN.ORG ACCOUNT)
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Use the hexadecimal number system when designing ways to represent other information in binary.
Vocabulary
- Hexadecimal: Base 16 is a convenient way to express binary numbers in modern computers in which a byte is almost always defined as containing eight binary digits.
LECTURE
Supplementary Resources
- How To Easily Convert Hexadecimal To Binary And To Decimal Tutorial
- Hexadecimal
- Practice-Binary Hex Challenge
- Check out the following Khan Academy videos for a more comprehensive look at hexadecimal numbers! Also be sure to check out this resource, Numbers in Different Bases Visualization, created by CS50’s own Annie Chen. It’s similar to the binary bulbs widget but for hexadecimal and other bases!
- Khan Academy on Hexadecimal Number System
- Khan Academy on Binary to Hexadecimal
- Khan Academy on Decimal to Hexadecimal
NOTES
Lesson 03 - HOW COMPUTERS WORK?
LESSON MATERIALS (You CAN ACCESS ONLY VIA @BERGEN.ORG ACCOUNT)
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Identify multiple levels of abstractions that are used when writing programs.
Lecture
Notes
VIDEOS
- Khan Academy on CPU, Memory, Input & Output
- Khan Academy on Hardware and Software
- Engineerguy on How Smoke Detectors Work
- Rregister on Curta Mechanical Calculator
- Matthias Wandel on Marble Adding Machine
- Canada Science and Technology Museum on Sundials
- SciShow on Ada Lovelace: Great Minds
- Computer History Museum on Human Computers
Additional Resources for you to Explore
Read some simple overviews of Von Neumann Architecture. Here's a comprehensive overview Von Neumann Architecture.
Want to know more about Interrupt Driven I/O?
Click here to know how BIOS works.
Click here to understand how computer memory works.
Always wondered what made the computer work? Click here to learn more about Motherboard / Hardware.
The border between our physical world and the digital information surrounding us has been getting thinner and thinner. Designer and engineer Jinha Lee wants to dissolve it altogether. As he demonstrates in this short, gasp-inducing talk, his ideas include a pen that penetrates into a screen to draw 3D models and a computer desktop prototype that lets you reach through the screen to manipulate digital objects. Watch the TED Talk.
Lesson 02 - BINARY
LESSON MATERIALS (You CAN ACCESS ONLY VIA @BERGEN.ORG ACCOUNT)
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Describe how to use bits to create a functioning number system
- Understand the relationship between the powers of 2 and the number of bits needed to express a number of a certain magnitude.
- Determine, for a given number of bits, both the number of possible numbers that can be represented and also the range of those numbers.
Vocabulary
- Binary - A way of representing information using only two options.
- Bit - A contraction of "Binary Digit"; the single unit of information in a computer, typically represented as a 0 or 1
- Bandwidth - Transmission capacity measure by bit rate (Mbps)
- Bit rate - (sometimes written bitrate) the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time. e.g. 8 bits/sec.
- Latency - Time it takes for a bit to travel from its sender to its receiver. (ms)
- Protocol - A set of rules governing the exchange or transmission of data between devices.
VIDEO
- Khan Academy on Binary & Data
- David's Lecture (Youtube) : 3:37 to 12:05
- ***Binary Explained (Nate)
- ***Crash Course Video on Boolean Logic & Logic Gates
NOTES
Other RESOURCES
Convert Binary numbers to the decimal system and vice versa
Lesson 01 - PERSONAL INNOVATIONs
LESSON MATERIALS (You CAN ACCESS ONLY VIA @BERGEN.ORG ACCOUNT)
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Communicate with classmates about computing innovations in their lives.
- Describe positive and negative effects of computing innovations.
VIDEO
Vocabulary
- Innovation - A new or improved idea, device, product, etc, or the development thereof
- Prototype - A first or early model of a product that allows you to test assumptions before developing a final version.