SPOT VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY WORKBOOK

GRADE 8
Term 1

D Watkis
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Contents
HEALTH AND SAFETY............................................................................................................................... 3
Computer Ports ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Characteristics of Ports................................................................................................................. 4
Serial Port....................................................................................................................................... 5
Parallel Port .................................................................................................................................... 5
PS/2 Port........................................................................................................................................ 5
Universal Serial Bus (or USB) Port ............................................................................................. 5
VGA Port......................................................................................................................................... 5
Power Connector........................................................................................................................... 6
Firewire Port................................................................................................................................... 6
Modem Port ................................................................................................................................... 6
Ethernet Port ................................................................................................................................. 6
Game Port...................................................................................................................................... 6
Digital Video Interface, DVI port................................................................................................. 7
Sockets........................................................................................................................................... 7
4 Main Parts of a Computer System ......................................................................................... 7
Motherboard ................................................................................................................................... 7
Central Processing Unit (CPU) ................................................................................................. 7
Hard Drive ....................................................................................................................................... 8
RAM/ROM Memory ....................................................................................................................... 8

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HEALTH AND SAFETY

Unit 1: Health and Safety

Objectives:

- List at least three of the most common computer cable types

- Demonstrate correct procedure when connecting and disconnecting peripheral devices

- Demonstrate proper care and maintenance of computer equipment and accessories.

- Discuss system requirements for software compatibility

- Design a computer or electronic devices safety programme

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Computer Ports
A port is a physical docking point using which an external device can be connected to the
computer. It can also be programmatic docking point through which information flows from a
program to the computer or over the Internet.

Characteristics of Ports
A port has the following characteristics −

• External devices are connected to a computer using cables and ports.

• Ports are slots on the motherboard into which a cable of external device is plugged in.

• Examples of external devices attached via ports are the mouse, keyboard, monitor,
microphone, speakers, etc.

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Serial Port
• Used for external modems and older computer mouse

• Two versions: 9 pin, 25 pin model

• Data travels at 115 kilobits per second

Parallel Port
• Used for scanners and printers

• Also called printer port

• 25 pin model

• IEEE 1284-compliant Centronics port

PS/2 Port
• Used for old computer keyboard and mouse

• Also called mouse port

• Most of the old computers provide two PS/2 port, each for the mouse and keyboard

• IEEE 1284-compliant Centronics port

Universal Serial Bus (or USB) Port

• It can connect all kinds of external USB devices such as external hard disk, printer,
scanner, mouse, keyboard, etc.

• It was introduced in 1997.

• Most of the computers provide two USB ports as minimum.

• Data travels at 12 megabits per seconds.

• USB compliant devices can get power from a USB port.

VGA Port
• Connects monitor to a computer's video card.

• It has 15 holes.

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• Similar to the serial port connector. However, serial port connector has pins, VGA port
has holes.

Power Connector
• Three-pronged plug.

• Connects to the computer's power cable that plugs into a power bar or wall socket.

Firewire Port
• Transfers large amount of data at very fast speed.

• Connects camcorders and video equipment to the computer.

• Data travels at 400 to 800 megabits per seconds.

• Invented by Apple.

• It has three variants: 4-Pin FireWire 400 connector, 6-Pin FireWire 400 connector, and
9-Pin FireWire 800 connector.

Modem Port
• Connects a PC's modem to the telephone network.

Ethernet Port
• Connects to a network and high speed Internet.

• Connects the network cable to a computer.

• This port resides on an Ethernet Card.

• Data travels at 10 megabits to 1000 megabits per seconds depending upon the network
bandwidth.

Game Port
• Connect a joystick to a PC

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• Now replaced by USB

Digital Video Interface, DVI port

• Connects Flat panel LCD monitor to the computer's high-end video graphic cards.

• Very popular among video card manufacturers.

Sockets
• Sockets connect the microphone and speakers to the sound card of the computer.

High-Definition Multimedia Interface, HDMI port

• audio/video interface for transferring uncompressed video and
compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compatible
output source, for example a computer, to a display device, such as a
computer monitor or digital television.

4 Main Parts of a Computer System

There are four main parts which a computer system needs to function effectively
and that are critical to system performance. If a part is malfunctioning, it can
cause the system to stop operating, it can cause program errors or it can slow
down the performance of other devices.

Motherboard
The motherboard is a printed circuit board which uses "bus" architecture to map
out critical system components and provides connectors for devices such as, the
power supply, memory, hard drive, input/output slots and the central processing
unit (CPU). If you examine a motherboard, it looks like a street map. The lines
on the motherboard are physical addresses to a device which carries instructions
to the central processing unit which is the brain or scheduler of the computer
system.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The central processing unit (CPU) or brain of the computer system processes
complex functions in the system. The CPU chip receives instructions from the
system board and software applications. Today's CPUs can process data

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measured in milliseconds. The CPU also has a co-math processor built into the
chip to handle mathematical functions. For example, when a spreadsheet
program, such as Microsoft Excel calculates formulas, the program is accessing
the co-math processor function of the CPU.

Hard Drive
A hard drive stores programs, data and information. The most important
attribute of the hard drive is the boot sector record which reads information from
the disk to "boot up" the operating system for a person to use software
applications. Modern hard drives have RAM memory chips sets built in to help
send a program application to the CPU.

RAM/ROM Memory
• Random Access Memory (RAM) is an integrated computer chip used to access any
memory location or address on the motherboard directly.

• The RAM chips is active when the computer is turned on and while the computer is
on, it helps allocate memory to system operations, especially the CPU while releasing
other devices and processes which are not actively using RAM resources.

• Read Only Memory (ROM) can only be read from the system and primarily holds the
instructions for the performance of low-level system devices.

• Without instructions located in ROM, a user would not be able to power up a

computer.

Activity
1. Define the following terms in your own words. (2 Marks each)
a. Port (Computer port)
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
b. Computer Cable
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
c. Peripheral device
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
d. Motherboard
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

2. State the meaning of the following acronyms. (1 Mark each)

a. USB ________________________________________________________________

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b. VGA ________________________________________________________________
c. DVI _________________________________________________________________
d. HDMI _______________________________________________________________
e. RAM _______________________________________________________________
f. ROM _______________________________________________________________

3. Which part within the computer is the brain? ____________________________ (1 Mark)

4. What does the hard drive do? _______________________________________(1 Mark)
5. What are the four main parts of a computer/System unit?
___________________________________________________________________________
(4 Marks)
6. Which part of the computer is a printed circuit board which allows all the components to be
connected to each other? __________________________________________ (1 Mark)
7. Which port is used for transferring uncompressed video and compressed or uncompressed
digital audio data? __________________________________________________ (1 Mark)
8. ________________________ can only be read from the system and primarily holds the
instructions for the performance of low-level system devices. (1 Mark)
9. The ______________ is active when the computer is turned on and while the computer is
on, it helps allocate memory to system operations. (1 Mark)
10. How many pins can be found on a parallel port? __________ (1 Mark)
11. How many pins can be found on a VGA port? __________ (1 Mark)
12. Which year was USB introduced? _______________ (1 Mark)
13. Which of the ports mentioned above have been replaced by USB? ___________ (1 Mark)
14. Which company invented the firewire port? _________________ (1 Mark)
15. Which other port looks like a VGA? _______________ (1 Mark)
16. Which THREE the following is an example of an external device? (3 Marks)
i. CPU
ii. Mouse
iii. RAM
iv. Hard drive
v. Monitor
vi. ROM
vii. keyboard

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17. Identify the following Ports using the terms given. (1 Mark each)
Power connectors, Ethernet/Rj45, Modem/Rj11, USB, VGA, HDMI, PS/2, Parallel, Serial
Port, SATA, DVI, Firewire, Coaxial, RCA, headphones

18. Name at least one device which can be connected to the ports indicated below.
(1 Mark each)
a. PS/2 ________________________
b. DVI ________________________
c. USB ________________________
d. VGA ________________________
e. Serial ________________________
f. Parallel ________________________
g. Firewire ________________________
h. Game Port ________________________
i. Ethernet Port ________________________
j. Socket ________________________
k. HDMI Port ________________________

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MALE AND FEMALE PORTS

A male connector is commonly referred to as a plug and has a solid pin for a
centre conductor. A female connector is commonly referred to as a jack and has
a centre conductor with a hole in it to accept the male pin.

19. State whether the ports below are male or Female by using the letters M or F.
(1 Mark each)

a.

g.

b.
h.

c.
i.

j.
d.

k.

e.

l.

f.

m.

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Types of USB devices

Activity

20. State which type of USB connector is type A, type B or type C. (1 Mark each)

i. iii.
________ _________

ii. _________

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21. Use a pencil to draw the following connectors. (2 Marks each)

USB Type A

USB Type B

USB Type C

22. Which of the USB types is used by the following devices? (1 Mark each)

d.
________________
a.
_____________

e.
b. _______________________
__________

c. f.
__________ ____________________

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Port symbols

Activity

23. Match the symbols with the name of the devices associated with them. (5 Marks)
Device type Device symbols
Line in

Headphone

Microphone

Fire wire

USB

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Examine the image below then answer the questions that follow.

Fig 1 Fig 2

24. How many ports are in fig 1 ________ , Fig 2 __________ (2 Marks)
25. Connect the male and female ports to the correct cables by using the letters.

.___________________________________________________________________________

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26. Draw and label one of each of the following types of ports. (2 Marks each)
a. A port that transmits Video

b. A port that transmits Audio

c. A port that transmits Power to a device

d. A port that connects a mouse

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27. Which devices are at the end of each of the cables below.
a.

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