Technology and us - Lets learn about different types - Part 6 Computers- Lesson for small kids

Have you ever worked on a computer?  Maybe you have one at school or at home and are using it now to read and complete this lesson.

Maybe you have an old computer, or maybe a laptop or a fancy new one on which you play your games.  Computers, just like cellphones have changed a lot through the years and like all other technology becomes better, faster and smaller as time goes by.

The earliest computers were used in the 1940's by they were huge - in fact they were as big as a room.  Just think about how easily you can carry around a laptop today.  Those first computers also used huge amounts of electricity.

A lot of people say that computers are taking over the world, but the reality is that even though computers can do a person's work or make it easier and the person do not have to write everything on paper anymore, or the computer adds the numbers etc, it cannot do anything if it is not programmed to do it.

You can load different programs on your computer to complete certain tasks, but all of these programs were written by programmers.  So, a computer can never do anything it is not 'told' to do,

A computer program can include as little as a few instructions to upwards of millions of instructions depending on the complexity of the program. Modern applications such as word processors, web browsers and graphic editors take large teams of programmers a long time to complete. 

Computers surely make our lives much easier, especially when it comes to storing data.  You can store a lot of data on the computer or external hard drive and if you had to add the same amount of data on paper you will most likely end up with many boxes full of information.  It is also much easier to find information that are stored on the computer than in a file.

We tend to think of computers only as our desk- or laptop but small computers are also found in phones, games, toys and microwaves to make it work.

• Watch the video and answer the questions

1. How did the kids want to improve the school?
2. How were the school now different from a while back?
3. How would computers help the kids?
4. Why could the school not pay for computers?
5. What suggestion did the teacher give the kids?
6. What ideas did the kid have?
7. Why did the kids feel sad a week later.
8. Watch the rest of the video and re-tell it in your own words.