26 Hardware

39 Computer components

Familiarise your students with how hardware and software components integrate and interact in a computer system. The unit of work takes students on a journey of understanding of internal components of computer systems: primary memory, CPU, with secondary storage and a description of an embedded system. The unit then develops by looking at OS software, utility programs and considers the importance of developing robust software and how to identify vulnerabilities in a system. It closes by considering the differences between programming languages, and the different types of translators that are used to translate high-level code into machine code. The final lesson includes an assessment task and a lesson designed to get students to reflect on achievement and improve any gaps in understanding.