• Ecosystems
• Solar System
• Human Body Systems
• Government Systems
• Weather Systems
• Economic/Monetary Systems
• Transportation Systems
• Postal System
• Communication Systems
• Computer Systems
• Miscellaneous Systems

In and of itself, a computer is a complex system of components. But it can also be part of a larger system of communication, the internet, that links computer networks around the world.

The Y2K problem is a good example of how systems are interconnected. Will Y2K be TEOTWAWKI (The End of the World As We Know It)? How can one little glitch in the operating systems of computers possibly cause so many problems?  It's because in the world that we live in, computer systems are so interconnected to the daily activities of humans. Is this interdependent world different from the world that your grandparents or great-grandparents lived in? How?

Sample some of the following activities to learn more about computer systems.

Places To Go | People To See | Things To Do | Teacher Resources | Bibliography

Places To Go

The following are places to go (some real and some virtual) to find out about computer systems.

UEN's Online Internet Reference Tour is designed to give you a chance to try out some of the reference tools available on theInternet.

Take Hanz' Computer Tour and learn about the parts of a basic personal computer and how they work.

People To See

How is the opertating system of a Windows computer different from the operating system of a Macintosh? What is RAM? How do computers in a network talk to each other? John Cutler - john.cutler@slc.k12.ut.us, Area Computer Technician for Salt Lake School District, can answer your questions.

Submit your questions to Dr. Internet.

Utah Educators can sign up for free UEN's computer classes.

Scientific American: Ask the Computer Expert
Find answers to an interesting assortment of questions from crashing computers to how DVDs work here.

Who Was Charles Babbage?
Charles Babbage was a British inventor and mathematician, as well as a pioneer in the computer science field. He invented the first programmable computer.

Pioneers of Computing Biographies
This site features an index that mentions most of the computer pioneers and their inventions. It also notes other important people in computers or computing industry.

Triumph of the Nerds
This companion site to the PBS documentary helps readers understand how youthful amateurs, hippies and self-proclaimed “nerds” accidentally changed the world with their computer innovations.

Things To Do

Get Your Web License. Simply take this "Rules of the Road" test and you'll be on your way to receiving your official PBS Kids Web license.

Computer Exploration At Your Fingertips
Learn about the way computers work and how they can be used in everyday life.

Trouble With 2000
Learn more about Y2K. Computers are very sophisticated these days. Will some of them really think that January 1, 2000 is January 1, 1900? What are some of the problems that might occur if this happens? How long have computer technicians and the government been trying to solve the Y2K problem? What are some creative solutions to the Y2K problem rather than rewriting alot of computer programs?

Hobbes' Internet Timeline
Did you realize that the internet has been around since the 1950's? A host is a computer system with a registered IP address. Scroll down to the bottom and find out how many hosts there were in December 1969. How many hosts were there in January 1999? How many internet sites existed in June 1993? How many interent sites existed in March 1999? (From this source, "sites" means web servers, and web servers are computers where internet pages "live". There may be hundreds or even thousands of internet pages on one web server.)

Catfood Scratch and Sniff
Isn't technology grand? These computer gurus have discovered a method (a system) to make scratch and sniff work online.

How Microprocessors Work
"The microprocessor is the heart of any normal computer, whether it is a desktop machine, a server, or a laptop." From this great site, you can find out not only about microprocessors, but also many other computer parts and functions.

Triumph of the Nerds
Find out all about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and some of the early computer developers. Play the "Guess the Computer" game and see how much of a computer nerd that YOU are.

 Teacher Resources

Lesson Plans/Webquests/Activities

• Computerized Civilization
• Child’s Play: Learning about the Role of Electronics and Computers on Today’s Young Children
• Gumshoeing the Web: A Lesson about Privacy and Safety in the Computer Age
• Internet Seek and Find: Using Search Engines Designed for Kids
• So Much to Do, So Little Time: Learning About Multitasking in the Computer Age
• Master of His Domain: Exploring how the Internet Works

Bibliography

• Brown, Marc. Arthur's Computer Disaster. Boston : Little, Brown, 1997.
• Chambers, Catherine. Computer. Des Plaines, Ill. : Heinemann Interactive Library, c1998.
• Drake, Jim. Computers All Around Us. Des Plaines, Ill. : Heinemann Library, c1999.
• Drake, Jim. Computers and Schools. Des Plaines, Ill. : Heinemann Library, c1999.
• Drake, Jim. What Is a Computer? Des Plaines, Ill. : Heinemann Library, c1999.
• Kazunas, Charnan. The Internet for Kids. New York : Children's Press, c1997.
• Kazunas, Charnan. Personal Computers. New York : Children's Press, c1997.
• Parker, Steve. Computers. Austin, Tex. : Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1997.
• Pedersen, Ted. Internet For Kids! : A Beginner's Guide to Surfing the Net. New York : Price Stern Sloan, c1997.
• Toby, Edna. What's a Computer? New York : New Traditions Press, c1998

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