Excel

in

Technology Studies
Learner’s Book

Grade 7
 Longhorn Publishers

ISBN 978 9982 76 118 5

 Table of Contents
Unit 1: Drawing..............................................................................1
Drawing tools....................................................................................................... 1
Review of Isometric drawings........................................................................... 3
Orthorgraphic drawings.................................................................................... 4
First and Third angle Projections...................................................................... 5
Drawing orthorgraphic projections................................................................ 7
Basic building drawing...................................................................................... 14

Unit 2: Construction....................................................................17
Joining materials.................................................................................................17
Butt joint............................................................................................................... 17
Lapped joint......................................................................................................... 21
Joining materials by nailing ............................................................................ 24
Joining materials using screws ....................................................................... 25
Building materials............................................................................................... 30
Methods of burning clay bricks....................................................................... 31

Unt 3: Calculator.........................................................................34
Opening a calculator in a computer............................................................. 35
Finding a scietific mode......................................................................................35
Switching between the different types of system calculators..................38
Shortcuts for openning calculators................................................................38
Using calculators.................................................................................................38

Unit 4: Energy .............................................................................44

Electricity...............................................................................................................44
Making a simple switch......................................................................................44

Unit 5: The Internet ...................................................................48

Introduction to the internet..............................................................................48
What you need to be connected to the internet........................................49
Uses of the internet.............................................................................................50
Risks associated with the internet .................................................................51
Protecting ourselves from the internet risks................................................52

iii
Unit 6: Searching And Retrieving Information ........................54
Searching for files and folders in the computer....................................... 54
Retrieving information from external storage devices..............................55
Retrieving information from flash disk or storage devices......................57
To play CD or DVD/VCD........................................................................... 58
Searching and retrieving information from the internet......................... 59

Unit 7: Entrepreneurship ...........................................................63

Entrepreneurship career options.....................................................................63
Carpentry.............................................................................................................63
Welding..................................................................................................................65
Brick making.........................................................................................................65
Conclusion............................................................................................................66

iv
Chapter

1 Drawing
Drawing is the art of putting up organized lines together to communicate
a message. In this topic, we will learn how to convert isometric drawings
to orthographic projections and how to represent buildings in drawings.
Let us first remind ourselves the tools we use to draw.

Drawings tools
1. A pencil is used to mark and draw lines and shapes on a drawing
paper. (See Fig. 1.1 (a). The writing part of the pencil is known as the
lead. A quality pen should have a hard lead that does not break easily
and writes clearly. An eraser (Fig. 1.1 (b) is used to remove unwanted
pencil marks on the paper.

(a) Pencil (b) Eraser

Fig. 1.1: Pencil and eraser
2. A drawing board is a rectangular board on which paper is placed for
drawing or colouring (See Fig. 1.2).

Fig. 1.2: Drawing board

3. A T-square is a T-shaped ruler used as guide when drawing parallel
lines and right angles. It has a short crosspiece that slides along the
edge of the drawing board (See Fig. 1.3)

Fig. 1.3: T - Square

1
4. A protractor is used to draw and angles in a drawing (See Fig. 1.4)

Fig. 1.4: Protractor

5. A 45o set square is used to draw and measure angles of 45o in a

drawing (See Fig. 1.5 (a)). A 30o/60o set square is used to draw and
measure angles of 60o in a drawing (See Fig. 1.5 (b))

(a) 45° Set Square (b) 30°/60° Set Square

Fig. 1.5: Protractors

5. Paper clips are used to hold the drawing paper firmly on the drawing
board. They are of different types and shapes. Fig. 1.6 shows one type
of paper clips.

Fig. 1.6: Paper clips

Drawings board
Fig. 1.7: shows drawing tools on a drawing board.
Clips

Drawing board

Set square

T-Square

Fig. 1.7: Drawing tools on a drawing board

2
Review of isometric drawings
In Grade 6, we learnt how to draw isometric drawings of solids. We
learnt that an isometric drawing is a way of representing a solid in three
dimensions i.e. length, width and height; using vertical lines and horizontal
lines. The horizontal lines represent the length and width. They are drawn
at 30° to the baseline. An isometric drawing is also called a pictorial view
of a solid.
Figure 1.8 below shows isometric drawings of some solids. All measurements
are in millimetres.

30° 30°
30° 30°

30° 30° 30° 30°

Figure 1.8: Isometric drawings of some solids

Orthographic drawings
A solid can be viewed from three directions: front, side and top as shown
in Fig 1.9.

3
 P

E F

Figure 1.9: Three views of a solid

In each case, a different view of the solid is seen.Thus, we have three views
of the solid. They are side (end) view, front view and top view (plan). These
views are also called elevations.
An orthographic drawing is a way of representing the three views of a
solid on a sheet of paper in two dimensions; using straight, vertical and
horizontal lines that are at right angles (90°) to each another.
Figure 1.10 shows an orthographic drawing of the box shown in Figure 1.9

Figure 1.10: Orthographic view of a box

Notice that in an orthographic drawing, the three views are mapped or

4
projected onto each other using straight faint lines called projection lines.

First and third angle projections

An orthographic projection can be in ‘third angle’ or in ‘first angle’
projection.
First angle projection
First angle projection is an orthographic drawing of a solid in which the
plan is drawn below the front view, while the side view is drawn to the left side
of the front view.
Figure 1.11 shows the isometric drawing of a clay block. Its top, side and
front faces are labeled a, b and c respectively.

100 mm

mm
210
85 m
m

Figure 1.11 Isometric drawing of a block

Figure 1.12 shows the orthographic drawing of the block in first angle
projection.
85 mm 210 mm
100 mm
85 mm

Figure 1.12: First angle orthorgraphic drawing of a block

5
Third angle projection
Third angle projection is the projection in which the plan is drawn above the
front view, while the side view is drawn to the right of the front view.
(The side is drawn in the opposite direction of the viewing point)
Figure 1.13 shows the isometric drawing of an ‘L’ shaped solid block.

Figure 1.13: Isometric drawing of an L-shaped

Figure 1.14 shows the orthographic drawing of the solid in third angle
projection.

10 mm
Plan

10 mm

15 mm 8 mm
Front View End View
Figure 1.14: Orthographic drawing of L-shaped block
Note that views of the solid are drawn from the point where one is viewing
from. For example, for a viewer at point P, the front view will be shown
as shown in Figure 1.15. The end elevation E will show the opposite end.
6
The lines drawn in colour are the projection lines.They show the projection
of one view onto the other.
Drawing orthographic projections
Activity 1.1
Draw the orthographic projection of the solid shown in Figure 1.15 in
third angle projection.

Figure 1.15

Steps
1. Choose the front view. This should be the view that shows most details
of the object. See figure 1.16

Front view
Figure 1.16

2. Using the measurements or scale given, draw the front view on the
lower left section of the paper. This view will be our base view from
which the other views will be projected and aligned. Figure 1.17 shows
the Front view of the solid.

Figure 1.17
7
3. Draw the vertical and horizontal projections lines from the front view
to mark the boundaries of the plan and side view. See Figure 1.18.

22 mm

12 mm

10 mm FRONT VIEW

Figure 1.18

4. Guided by the projection lines and the measurements on the front

view, draw the top view (plan) of the solid above the front view. Use
the projection lines to fill the hidden details of the top view, drawing
them with dotted lines. Draw other visible details of the top view that
were not projected by the front view e.g. the circular hole. See Figure
1.19.
30 mm
22 mm

12 mm

10 mm FRONT VIEW

Figure 1.19

8
5. Project the top view onto the front view and fill in some of the top
view details missing on the front view e.g. the circular hole. See Figure
1.20.

Figure 1.20

6. Draw a 45° projection line from the upper right corner of the box
that encloses the front view. See Figure 1.21.

Figure 1.21

7. Using a ruler and a set square, draw the projection lines from the top
view to the 45° line and their perpendicular lines down to map the
boundaries of the side view. See figure 1.22
9
 Figure 1.22

8. Draw the side view to the right of the front view guided by the
projection lines.
30 mm

22 mm
22 mm

12 mm

10 mm 10 mm
FRONT VIEW

Figure 1.23

9. Project the side view back to the front view and top view and fill in any
details of the side view that could be missing on the other two views.
10. If necessary, outline the three views to make them outstand over the
projection lines.
10
Note
When drawing in first angle projection, we begin by drawing the front
view on the top right section of the paper, to be our base view. We then
follow steps similar to those in Activity 1.1 to end up with the plan below
the front view and the side view to the left of the front view.

Activity 1.2

Draw the box shown in Figure 1.24 in first angle orthographic projection.
Use Length = 40mm, Width = 50 mm and height = 40 mm.
P

E F

Figure 1.24 F

Hints
1. Viewing the solid from point P will give us the Plan, from point F
will give us the Front View and that from point E will give the End
(side) View. E
2. Your final orthographic diagram should look like Figure 1. 25.

11
 40mm

Endview

40mm

Projection lines

50 mm

Figure 1.25

Activity 1.3
Draw the ‘F’ shaped block in figure 1.26 in 3rd angle orthographic
projection. Follow the views given.

mm
42 12 mm

12 mm

50 mm
30 mm

14 mm

Figure 1.26

Hints
1. Follow the steps outlined in Activity 1.1
2. Your final drawing will be as shown in Figure 1.27.

12
 42 mm

12 mm

12 mm
50 mm

12 mm
30 mm

14 mm
12 mm 12 mm

Figure 1.27

Activity 1.4
Figure 1.28 shows a wooden step to a house designed by a Grade 7
pupil. Draw the figure in orthographic projection. All measurements are
in millimetres.

75
mm mm
40

Figure 1.24
30 mm

55 mm
15 mm

m
m
35

m
m
95

Figure 1.28

13
Basic Building Drawing
Before building a house, it is very important to draw a plan of the structure
to guide you in the actual construction. The plans are first approved by
the City Council Authorities before they are constructed. In this section,
we will learn how to interpret building drawings as well as draw the
elevations of simple houses.

Example 1.1
Figure 1.29 shows one of the simplest houses commonly found in the
villages and some parts of towns in Zambia.

Figure 1.25

Figure 1.29
Figure 1.30 shows the first angle orthographic drawing of the house with
the side of length 9.0 metres as the front view, and that of the length 6.0
metres as the end view. The roof is the plan and extends by 50 cm each
side.
To accurately come up with the drawing, we follow the steps we learnt in
Activity 1.1.

14
 Figure 30
Example 1.2
Figure 1.31 shows another common type of house in Zambia. It is
9 metres long, 5 meters wide and 4.5 meters high to the roof. Iron sheets
are overlapping the wall by 0.5 meters each side

Figure 1.31

15
In order to build such a house, the builder will find it easy if it is drawn
in three views, front elevation, end elevation and the plan.

Following the steps we learnt on how to draw orthographic views, we

can represent the three elevations of the house in third angle as shown
in Figure 1.32
mm

mm
mm

Figure 1.32

Practice Exercise:
Draw the house in orthographic projection using the following
measurements:
Length = 7 meters, width 6.5 meters and height 4 meters.
No hidden detail is required.

16
 Chapter

2 Construction
In this chapter, we will learn some methods of joining materials.We will also
learn how to construct a kiln and burn the bricks for house construction.

Joining Materials
In Grade 6, we learnt how to join materials using the common mortise
and tenon joint and the briddle joints. Let us learn how to join materials
using the butt joint and lapped joint.

Butt Joint
Figure 2.1 shows a butt joint.

Fig 2.1: Butt Joint

It is one of the simplest joints to make. It is made up of straight edges of

wood with ends meeting at 90°. The pieces are firmly joined together by
gluing and nailing or screwing.

Tools to use
• Tenon saw • Try square • Marking knife or pen
• Vice • nails • Hammer
• Tape measures • Smooth Plane • Bradawl

17
Making the butt joint
1. Make sure the pieces to be joined together are of the same width. In
case they are not, you can harmonise their widths using a jackplane.
2. Measure and mark the two pieces of wood to the lengths you need.
3. Using a try square and marking knife, mark straight lines across the
pieces through the marks you made in step 2. The lines should be
exactly at 90o to the edges of the timber.
4. Secure each of the pieces firmly each at a time on the vice. Using a
tenon saw or drop saw, cut the piece squarely along the lines you
marked. Do the same for the other piece.
5. Use a smoothing plane to remove the bristles on the end grains.
6. Apply glue on the surfaces of the pieces that will come into contact.
7. Clamp one of the pieces vertically on a vice.
8. Hammer the nails through the other piece a distance roughly equal
to half the thickness of the other pieces form its end. This will ensure
that the nail will pass through the middle line bisecting the width of the
vertical piece.
Precaution: Incase there is a likelihood of the nails splitting the pieces of
timber; small holes can be drilled first on the piece using a bradawl. (Fig
2.2)

Small holes for nails

End Grains
Wire Nails

Fig 2.2: Preparing a Butt Joint

9. Fit the piece into which you fixed the nails, squarely on the clamped
piece such that all their adjacent sides are flushing. Drive the nails
firmly into the second piece firmly using a hammer.(See fig 2.3).
18
 Fig 2.3: Driving the nails

10. Leave the joint for sometime to allow the glue to dry.
11. The final joint should be as shown in figure 2.4 below

Fig 2.4: Butt joint

Uses of a Butt Joint

Areas where the butt joint is used include the making of the wooden book
shelves and the wooden, rectangular maize flour sieve common in Zambian
homesteads.

19
Figure 2.5 shows a wooden bookshelf.
Butt joint

Fig 2.5: Butt joint in a bookshelf

Practical Activity 2.1

Practice joining pieces of wood using the butt joint at home.

Project 1
During your free time at home, make the frame of a rectangular maize
sieve shown in Figure 2.6 below.

Fig 2.6: Rectangular maize sieve

20
 Activity 2.2
Discuss with your friend:
1. Other areas where the butt joint is used.
2. Ways of strengthening the butt joint that you may have seen being applied.

Lapped Joint
The Lapped joint is an improvement of the butt joint. It has a cut called
the rebate on the inner side of one of the pieces and is where the other
piece joins.
Figure 2.7 shows the lapped joint.

Fig 2.7: Lapped joint

Making the lapped joint

Making Tools to use
• Tenon saw • Try square • Marking knife or pen
• Vice • nails • Hammer
• Tape measures • Smooth Plane • Bradawl
• Mortice gauge

21
Steps
1. Make sure the pieces to be joined together are of the same width. In
case they are not, you can harmonise their widths using a jackplane.
2. Measure and mark the two pieces of wood to the lengths you need.
3. Using a try square and marking knife, mark straight lines across the
pieces through the markings you made in step 2. The lines should be
exactly at 90o to the edges of the timber.
4. Secure the pieces firmly each at a time on the vice. Using a tenon
saw or drop saw, cut the pieces squarely along the lines you marked.
Do the same for the other piece.
5. Use a smoothing plane to remove the bristles on the end grains.
6. Using a marking knife, tape measure and a mortice gauge, mark
the rebate on one of the pieces such that its width is equal to the
thickness of the other piece of wood. See Figure 2.8

x
x

Place to be cut off

Fig 2.8: Marking a lapped joint

7. Clamp the piece with the rebate on the vice and cutoff the rebate
using a tenon saw. (Fig. 2.9)

Fig 2.9: Cutting the rebate for a lapped joint

22
8. Apply glue on the surfaces of the rebate.
9. Clamp the other piece vertically on a vice.
10. Hammer the nails thorough the piece with rebate, a distance roughly
equal to half the thickness of the other pieces form its end. This will
ensure that the nail will eventually pass through the middle line
bisecting the width of the vertical piece.
Precaution: Incase there is a likelihood of the nails cracking the
piece with the rebate; small holes can be drilled first on it using a
bradawl on top of the bench.
11. Leave the joint for sometime to allow the glue to dry.
12. The final joint should be as shown in Figure 2.10

Fig 2.10: Lapped joint

Activity 2.4
Discuss with you friend areas where the lapped joint is used.

Activity 2.5
Using soft wood timber, make a sieve for preparing maize flour used
for making Nshima. The size should be 300 mm long X 250 mm Wide X
85mm High. Use the butt or lapped joint for the corners.

23
Joining materials by nailing
Nails are used to join materials onto wood, for example joining two pieces
of wood together or iron sheets onto wood. There are various types of
nails designed for different purposes. Here are a few examples.
Nail type Purpose
Round wire nail It is used to join materials where the strength
of the joint is very important compared to the
finishing appearance.
Lost head nail It is used to join materials where it is necessary
to hide the head of the nail by punching it
beneath the surface.
Annular nail It has teeth that hold it firmly inside a material.
It is used to fix plywood and soft boards onto
wood.
Roofing nail It is used to fix ordinary iron sheets onto wood.

Tacks They are used to fix textile materials to wood.

Different types of hammers are used to hammer different types of nails.

Here are two examples:
Claw hammer
It is used for general nailing tasks. It is more suitable when driving
relatively large sized nails.

Fig 2.11: claw hammer

24
Cross pein hammer
It is used for light joinery work, for example to drive tacks and panel
nails into wood.

Fig 2.12 Cross pein hammer

There are different methods and techniques of nailing depending on the
type of joint required. Two most common methods are straight nailing
and toe nailing.

Methods of nailing
(a) Straight nailing
Steps
1. Identify the material to be nailed on top of the other. Mark the points
where the nails will be hammered. Avoid points too close to the edge
as the nail may split the wood
2. Fit the materials to be joined onto one another as required. If need
be, the two materials can be clamped on a vice to hold them firmly
onto one another.
3. Place the nail on the marked point and nail it vertically using a
hammer. See Figure 2.13

Fig 2.13: Straight nailing

25
(b) Toe-nailing
This method involves joining two pieces of wood at 900 to one another
by driving the nail at an angle. See Figure 2.14.

Fig 2.14:Toe nailing

The joint is strengthened by nailing on both sides. Care and the correct
angle should be observed to avoid the nail splitting the wood.
Wrong nailing
When one nails without the correct skill, there is a likelyhood of the nail
folding onto the surface of the wood because of failing to control it. See
Fig 2.15.

Folding the Wire Nail

Fig 2.15: rong nailing

This can be avoided by nailing with confidence and steadily. This

involves regular practising.

26
Precautions when nailing
1. Avoid nailing very near the edge of a piece of wood as the nail may
split the wood.
2. Use the nail with the smallest diameter that will satisfactorily do the job.
3. Where end nailing is necessary, slant the nail at angle so that it can
start farther away from the end, but still penetrate the other
piece of wood being joined together.
4. In some cases, you can first drill a hole that is slightly smaller than
the nail’s shank diameter then drive the nail through it to avoid
splitting the wood.
5. Very dry wood is more likely to split than that with sufficient
moisture content.
6. Avoid nailing very near knots or through the knots in the wood.
Knots are are usually very hard and less flexible hence are
easy breaking/splitting zones.
Exercise 2.4
1. Draw three types of nails and explain their uses.
2. Identify two areas where toe-nailing is applied.
3. What is the use of a cross pein hammer?
4. Of what use are thumbtacks?
5. What may lead to unintentionally folding of a nail onto the surface
of wood.
6. Identify one area where folding the protruding pointed end of the nail
is necessary.
7. State three precautions that one should take to avoid the splitting of
wood while nailing.

Joining materials using screws

Screws are used to join materials mainly where temporally joints are
required.
There are different types of screws. The differences are mainly on the
design of the screw heads. Different screw heads are meant to serve
different purposes.
27
Figure 2.16 shows four of the most common types of screws.
Counter sunk screw head Truss screw head

Fig 2.16 (a) Fig 2.16 (b)

Used where the screw head is The head lies flat on the
to be concealed. wood making it very hard
to tamper with or remove.
Doomed of round headed screw Raised or oval headed screw

Fig 2.16 (c) Fig 2.16 (d)

Used mainly to join mirrors. Used to achieve a decorative finish.
Fig 2.16: Common types of screws

The screw heads have different drive designs. This determines the type
of screwdriver to be used. Figure 2.17 shows some of the most common
screw drive designs.

(a) (b) (c) (d)

slotted design phillip design pozidriv design square/robertson

Fig 2.17. Common screw driver designs

28
Fig. 2.18 shows the respective screw drivers used.

(a) (b)
slotted screw driver phillip screw driver

(c) (d)
pozidriv screwdriver Square/Robertson screwdriver
Fig 2.18. Common screw drivers

Procedure for joining materials using screws

1. Prepare the two pieces you want to join e.g. by smoothing and
cutting them to the required sizes.
2. Fit the two pieces onto one another they way they will be joined.
Clamp them on the vice.
3. Mark the positions where you want to drive in the screws. Drill a
pilot hole into the top piece, through which the screw will be fitted.
A pilot hole prevents the material from splitting when a screw is
being forcefully driven into the piece. The size of the hole should be
smaller than the stem of the screw. Fig. 2.19 shows a pilot hole.

Pilot hole Work piece

Piece 1

Piece 2

Fig 2.19. Pilot hole

You may countersink the hole using a counter sinking bait incase the
screw to be used is a counter sink type (Fig. 2.20).

29
 Countersinking bait

Fig 2.20. Countersunk hole

4. Drive the screw tightly through the hole from one piece through to
the other piece using the correct screw driver until the pieces are
tightly screwed together as shown in fig. 2.21.

Fig 2.21. Driving the screw through the wood

5. Unclamp the joined pieces.
Building Materials
In Grade 6, we learnt how to make clay bricks. When the bricks are used
to build without burning them first, they are not strong and are easily
dissolved by rainwater thereby weakening the house.
To strengthen the bricks, they are first burned before using them to building.
In this section, you will learn how to dry clay bricks in a kiln.
Figure 2.22(a) shows unburned bricks while (b) shows a burned brick.

Fig 2.22. (b): Burnt brick

Fig 2.22. (a): Unburnt bricks
30
Another advantage of burning bricks is that it transforms them to red
brown in colour, making them more attractive.The process of burning bricks
is also known as firing. The structure in which the bricks are burned is
called a kiln.

Methods of burning clay bricks

There are two main methods of firing clay bricks: intermittent method
and continuous method.

Intermittent method
In this method, the bricks to be burned are arranged inside the cold kiln.
The kiln is then closed and its internal temperature increased. After the
burning is completed, both the kiln and the bricks are cooled. The bricks
are then removed and the kiln cleaned ready for the next round or cycle
of brick burning. A kiln used in this method is known as an intermittent
kiln. This is the most commonly method used with the traditional kilns in
Zambia. We will shortly look at how this is done.

Continuous method
In this method, a continuous kiln, also called a tunnel is used. The
temperatures in the kiln increase gradually from the cold entrance to
the hottest part of the kiln in the middle and then decrease gradually to
lower temperature on the outlet end.
The bricks enter the kiln through the cool entrance and are slowly
transported through the kiln to the hottest middle section, then slowly to
the cool outlet end. Thus, the bricks are gradually burned then cooled as
they move through the kiln.The bricks are therefore continuously fed into
the kiln until the whole bunch of bricks is burned.

Burning clay bricks by the traditional intermittent method

Note that the bricks are sundried first before burning.
1. Arrange the dry bricks in an organised manner to form a kiln.You
should leave tunnels through which you will put the firewood as
shown in Fig. 2.23

31
 Fig 2.15. Arranging bricks in a kiln

2. Cover the kiln with mud as shown in fig. 2.24. This will prevent loss of
heat and the complete combustion of the bricks, which may cause
them to crack.

Fig 2.24. Covering the kiln with mud.

32
3. Put a mixture of dry and wet firewood through the tunnels and light the
fire. This will keep the fire burning for a long time. Leave the bricks
to burn for up to 2 days (Fig. 2.25).

Fig 2.25. Lighting fire in kiln tunnels.

4. Put out the fire when the bricks have burned. You will know this when
they harden and turn red brown in colour as shown in figure 2.26.

Fig 2.26. Burnt Brick

Exercise 2.5
1. State two advantages of burning clay bricks.
2. What is a kiln?
3. Describe two methods of burning clay bricks.
4. In three steps, describe how to burn clay bricks.

33
 Chapter

3 Calculator
A calculator is a device used to perform mathematical operations. Figure
3.1 shows an example of a physical calculator that you may have seen or
used to perform some mathematical calculations.

Fig 3.1: Physical Calculator

To help us do calculations, a computer has an inbuilt calculator called

a system calculator. A system calculator works the same way as the
ordinary physical calculator you know.
There are two types of system calculators:
1. Standard Calculator
2. Scientific Calculator
A standard calculator is able to perform basic calculations such as
addition, multiplication, subtraction and division. Figure 3.2 shows a standard
system calculator.

34
 Fig. 3.2: Standard system calculator

In addition, a scientific calculator performs complex calculations such

as finding square roots, squares, cube roots, and so on. Figure 3.3 shows an
example of a scientific calculator.

Fig. 3.3: Scientific system calculator

Opening the calculator in a computer

Step 1:
Click the Start button, go to All programs wait for the dialogue box to open
up then select Accessories and then choose Calculator. See Figure 3.4.

35
 Fig 3.4: Opening the system calculator

Step 2:
There is another way to open Calculator: Click the Start button. In the
search box, type Calculator and then in the list of results, click Calculator
as shown in Figure 3.5.

Fig 3.5: Opening the system calculator

36
Depending on the calculator that is set as default (automatically) one of
the following calculators will open (Figure 3.6).

(a) Standard system calculator

(b) Scientific system calculator

Fig 3.6:Types of system calculators

37
Switching between different types of system calculators.
After opening any type of system calculator, we can switch between
the types of calculators in the calculator window by clicking View and
selecting the calculator you want as shown in figure 3.7.
In our case, we will learn about the standard and scientific systems
calculators only.

Fig 3.7: Switching between different types of system calculators

Shortcuts for switching calculators

Atl+1 Switch to Standard mode
Alt+2 Switch to Scientific mode
F1 Open Calculator Help
Using calculators
You can use a calculator to perform simple calculations such as addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division. A calculator also offers the
advanced capabilities of a scientific and standard calculator depending
on the end user`s needs.
You can perform calculations by clicking the calculator buttons, or you
can type calculations using your keyboard. You can also use the numeric
keypad to type numbers and operators by pressing Num Lock.
38
Using a standard system calculator
Let us now learn how to perform the following task using a standard
system calculator.

Addition
Example 3.1
Work out 25 + 30
Steps
Type 25 by clicking. Click + . Type 30 by clicking. Click = (Fig 3.8 shows
this).

Fig 3.8: Addition using a standard system calculator

The answer will be shown as 55.
Thus, 25 + 30 = 55.
Subtraction
Example 3.2
Work out 220 - 38
Steps
Type 220 by clicking. Click - .Type 38 by clicking. Click = .
The answer will be shown as 182.

39
Thus, 220 - 38 = 182.

Multiplication
Example 3.3
Work out: 12 x 12
Steps
Type 12 by clicking. Click * . Type 12 by clicking. Click = .(Figure 3.9)

Fig 3.9: Multiplication using a standard system calculator

The answer will be shown as 144.

Thus, 12 x 12 = 144.
Notes
• The asterisk ( * ) is the symbol used for multiplication.
• On the keyboard, the asterisk symbol is found on top of key number 8
and can be inserted by pressing a combination of keys as (Shift + 8).

Division
Example 3.4
Work out: 100 ÷ 2
Steps
Type 100 by clicking. Click / . Type 2 by clicking. Click = .

40
The answer will be shown as 50.
Thus, 100 ÷ 2 = 50.

Note
• The forward slash (/) is used for division.
Exercise 3.1
Work out the following using the Standard System Calculator.
1. (a) 1010 + 10 (b) 12 + 107 (c) 1207 + 774 (d) 1409 + 7802

2. (a) 660 – 60 (b) 6789 – 876 (c) 444 – 398 (d) 98776 – 6577

3. (a) 600 x 2 (b) 8906 x 896 (c) 5432 x 6578 (d) 95763 x 3456

4. (a) 510 ÷ 5 (b) 984676 ÷ 564 (c) 7569 ÷ 98 (d) 9876 x 657

Using a scientific system calculator

Finding squares and squreroots

Example 3.5
Find the square root of 25.
Steps
Type 25 by clicking on the scientific calculator as shown in Figure 3.10.
Click on the square root symbol √.
The answer will be shown as 5.

41
 Fig 3.10: Finding square roots using a scientific system calculator
Example 3.6
Find the square of 5.
Steps
Click on the number 5 on the calculator as shown in Fig. 3.11.
Click on the square symbol x2.
The answer will be shown as 25.

Fig 3.11: Find squares using a scientific system calculator

Finding cubes and cube roots

Example 3.7
Find the cube root of 8.
Steps
Click on number 8 on the calculator as shown in figure 3.12.
Click on the cube root symbol ³ × then click = sign.

42
 Fig 3.14: Finding cube root using a scientific system calculator.
Example 3.8
Find the cube of 3.
Steps
Click on the number 3 on the calculator.
Click on the cube symbol x3 as shown in figure 3.13 to see the answer.
The answer will be displayed as 27 hence, x3 = 27

Exercise 3.2
1. Find the square roots of the following numbers:
(a) 9 (b) 49 (c) 16
2. Find the square of the following numbers:
(a) 3 (b) 9 (c) 12
3. Find the cube root of the following numbers:
(a) 64 (b) 125 (c) 216
4. Find the cube of the following numbers:
(a) 8. (b) 14 (c) 23

43
 Chapter

4 Energy
Electricity
In Grade 6, we learnt how to make simple circuits. The main components
of a simple circuit are: a cell (source of electric power), bulb, connecting
wires and a switch. Figure 4.1 shows a simple circuit.

switch

connecting
wires
bulb

cell

Fig 4.1: Simple circuit

The purpose of a switch in a circuit is to put the circuit ON or OFF.

When the switch is ON, electric current flows round the circuit hence the
bulb lights.
When the switch is OFF, no current flows through the circuit hence the
bulb does not light.
In this unit, we will learn how to design simple circuits with a switch to
control the current.

Making a simple circuit with a switch

Required materials.
• Connecting wire • Bulb • Switch
• Dry cell • A hard board • Hammer
• Rubber band • Stiff piece of wire • A pair of pliers
44
Using the materials to design a simple circuit with a switch
Steps
1. Fix three nails A, B and C on the piece of wood using a hammer as
shown in Fig. 4.2.
2. Using a pair of pliers, make a loop on one end of the stiff wire and use
the loop to fix the wire on nail A, making sure that the wire is able to
rotate freely about nail A.
3. Tie the piece of stiff wire with the rubber band and fix the rubber band
tightly on nail D such that the free end of the wire is touching nail B.
This completes the circuit hence the bulb lights. We say that the circuit
is closed.
4. Connect the dry cell and the bulb with connecting wires. Connect
them to the nails A snd B as shown in Fig. 4.2.
Your final circuit should be shown in Figure 4.2.

A Stiff wire

D B
Rubber band

Hard Board

Fig 4.2: Simple closed circuit

Figure 4.3 shows the circuit diagram for the closed circuit.

Fig 4.3: Diagram of a closed circuit

45
5. To open the switch, move the free end of the stiff wire from nail B and
hook it on the other side of nail C as shown in Figure 4.4. We say that
the switch is open and the flow of current is broken, hence the bulb goes
off.

A
C

D B
Rubber Stretched to C.

Hard Board

Fig 4.4: Simple open circuit

Figure 4.5 shows the circuit diagram for the open circuit.

Fig 4.5: Diagram of an open circuit

You can design a switch in different ways using the materials available in
your environment.

46
 Activity 3.1
In groups of threes:
1. Discuss and come up with two other different ways of making a switch
in a simple circuit.
2. Organise how to meet outside class time to design the switches and the
circuit.
3. Bring your designed circuits to class to compare with other groups.

47
 Chapter

5 The Internet
Introduction to the Internet
The word Internet refers to the inter connection of computers from
different locations (i.e continents, provinces or cities) with the purpose
of sharing information. The Internet has made the world to be called a
global village. It has lowered the cost of doing business among many
people across the world as information can be accessed by the tip of the
finger.
However, despite its usefulness the Internet comes along with a number of
risks. For this reason, we will try to identify and discuss the risks associated
with the Internet in this topic.
Figure 5.1 below shows a pictorial representation of the Internet.

Fig 5.1: Internet

48
What you need to be connected to the Internet
i. Computer or Internet enabled devices like phones and tablets

(a): Personal computers

(b): laptop

(c):Tablet
(d): Smartphone
Fig 5.2: Internet enabled devices

ii. Internet connectivity device or medium

Computers are connected to the Internet using modems, wires or optical
fibres. Devices such as mobile phones, tablets and ipads are made with
inbuilt capacity to connect to the Internet.

iii. Internet Service Provider (ISP)

An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the
world wide web at a fee to individuals and institutions that need the
services. Some of the Internet providers in Zambia are Zamtel, MTN and
Airtel.
49
iv. Browsing software
A browsing software, commonly known as a browser, is a software that
enables the user to interact with the Internet e.g. to search for information
and send/receive e-mails. A browser must be installed in a computer in
order to browse the Internet.
Examples of browsing softwares are:
(a.) Mozilla Firefox (b.) Internet Explorer

(c.) Safari (d.) Chrome

Uses of the Internet

1. Exchange of information.
An example of this service is sending and receiving information through
e-mails. Figure 5.2 below shows an example of an e-mail written in Internet
explorer.

Sample e-mail message

Fig 5.2: Sending an e-mail

50
2. Searching for information.
A lot of information is prepared by individuals and organisations and
stored in the Internet in computers called servers all over the world.
Such information can be used in various ways including; academic work,
agriculture and manufacturing. An interested person can search for this
information through the Internet.
We will learn how to search for information in the Internet in the next
topic.

Risks associated with the Internet

A risk is a situation that endangers the well-being of an individual or an
organisation.There are many risks associated with the use of the Internet.
Let us discuss some of them.

1. Cyber crimes
These are criminal activities which are done using computers that are
connected to the Internet. Examples are:
(a) Fraud- This involves a criminal sending or receiving information to
an Internet user in order to con them money.
(b) Human trafficking- This involves a person being deceived by a
criminal leading to the person being illegally transported to a
different country to do illegal activities like prostitution, drug
trafficking and forced labour.
(c) Terrorism- This involves terrorists propagating criminal activities
through the Internet.

2. Access to undesirable materials

Not every information in the Internet is beneficial. Some information is
meant to corrupt our good morals. Such material may be obscene, or
meant to promote drug and violence.

51
Protecting ourselves from Internet risks
1. Financial Risks
(a) Avoid communicating with strangers in the Internet even when
they prompt you to.
(b) Avoid giving personal details to strangers on the Internet such as
credit cards or PIN numbers.
2. Use of a firewall.
A firewall is software or hardware that checks information coming from
the Internet or a network, then either blocks it or allows it to pass through
to your computer, depending on your firewall settings.
A firewall can help prevent hackers from gaining access to your computer
through a network or the Internet. A firewall can also help to stop your
computer from sending malicious software to other computers.
Figure 5.3 shows how a firewall works.

Fig 5.3: working of a firewall

Just as a brick wall can create a physical barrier, a firewall creates a
barrier between the Internet and your computer.
3. Use of inprivate browsing feature in browsers.
Most browsing software have a feature that protects your privacy when
browsing. The inPrivate Browsing feature allows you to browse the web
without recording the history.

52
This helps to prevent anyone else who might be using your computer
from seeing what sites you visited and what you looked at on the web.
Therefore, you need to activate this feature before you start browsing.
4. Communication.
Communication refers to the sending and receiving of information or
simply exchange of information via the Internet. Users of the Internet
should not exchange sensitive information relating to their lives to
strangers but only to the people they know well. Information should
be searched from well-known sources and sites. With responsibility and
awareness of various risks associated with the Internet communication,
people using the Internet can avoid the risks.
5. Identification
The proper use of passwords and none disclosure of personal identification
on phones and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards helps users to
avoid Internet risks.

Exercise 4.1
1. What is cybercrime? How would you prevent yourself and other
people from it?
2. Define the following terms:
i. Internet.
ii. Risk.

Home work

List down at least five disadvantages of the Internet and how they
can be avoided.

53
 Chapter
Searching & Retrieving
6 Information

In Grade 6, we learned that the work done with the computer can be
saved in many storage locations in the computer and in external storage
devices. In this topic, we will learn how to search and retrieve information
from external storage devices and the World Wide Web.

Searching for files and folders in a computer

There are several ways to perform a search in a computer. Below are a
number of ways to do this.
Type the name of the file or folder in the search box at the top of any
open folder as shown in Figure 6.1.

Search box

Fig 6.1: Search box

54
Finding a program or file by using the search box on
the Start menu
To find an item using the Start menu:
1. Click the Start button.
2. Type a word or part of a word in the search box.
As you type, items that match your text will appear on the Start menu.
The search is based on the text in the file name file, tags, and other file
properties. See Figure 6.2.

Search box

Fig 6.2: Start menu.

Retrieving information from external storage devices

External storage devices are all those devices that store information
outside the computer systems.
Examples of external storage devices are record players, record cassettes,
audio tapes, floppy disk drive, Compact Disks (CDs),Video Compact Disks
(VCDs), Multi-media player 4 (MP4), Memory Cards, Digital Versatile
Disks (DVDs) and Universal Serial Bus (USB) or Flash Disk.

55
Flash Disk
A universal serial bus (USB) flash drive is a small, portable device that
plugs into a computer`s USB port. Like a hard disk, a USB flash drive
stores information. The informationstored in it can easily be transferred
from one computer to another.
USB flash drives vary in size and shape and can hold gigabytes of
information. USB flash drives are also called pen drives,key chain drives, key
drives and memory keys.

Fig 6.3: Flash disk

Optical storage devices (CD, VCD and DVD)

These are storage devices from which information is retrieved using a
beam of light (See figure 6.4).

(a) CD (b) DVD

Fig 6.4: CD & DVD
56
Retrieving information from flash disks or optical storage devices
To retrieve information from a flash disk or optical storage device, insert
the storage device in the appropriate drive. Depending on the operating
system, the disk may open automatically through the auto play window
as shown in Figure 6.5.

Fig 6.5: Autoplay window

In this case, simply select and open the specific file from which you want
to retrieve information in the storage device.
If it does not open automatically:
• Click on the start button then go to My computer.
• Select and open the appropriate drive.
• Select and open the file from which you want to retrieve the information
from (See Figure 6.6).

57
 Fig 6.6: Retrieving information from a storage device

To play a CD or DVD/VCD
Insert the disk you want to play into the drive.
The disk may start playing automatically. If it does not, open the music/
movies player installed in your computer e.g Windows Media Player, and
then in the player Library, click the disk name in the navigation pane.

Fig 6.7: Playing a cd or DVD/VCD

Ejecting a CD or DVD
To eject a CD or DVD while in Windows Media Player, do the following:
In the navigation pane in the Player Library, right-click the disk you want
to eject, and then click Eject.

58
If you are currently in Now Playing mode, click the Switch to Library
button in the upper-right corner of the Player.

Activity 6.1
Practice how to play and ejecting the CD or DVD from the drive.

Retrieving information from a memory card

A memory card is another storage device that is becoming very popular.
Its contents can be read using a memory card reader. The memory card is
first slid into the card reader. The card reader is then plugged into the
computer`s USB port. Many computers have built-in card readers, allowing
you to slide memory cards directly into the computer. A memory card
reader is shown in figure 6.8.

Fig 6.8: Memory card reader.

Searching and retrieving information from the Internet

The Web
The World Wide Web (www), also called the Internet, is a huge storehouse
of information. This information can be inform of text, images and sound.
A single page containing a particular information is called a webpage.
A website is a collection of interconnected webpages.
A website is identified using a unique address known as a Unique Resource
Locator (URL). An example of a web address is www.moe.gov.zm that
uniquely identifies the website for the Ministry of Education Science,
Vacational Training and Early education of Zambia.
59
 Fig 6.9: Minisrty of Education website

Searching for information in the Internet

There are two ways of searching for information on the Internet.
1. Searching directly from a known website.
• Open the web browser from your computer.
• Type the URL address of the website you want to open and click a
search icon. See figure 6.10
Type URL address

Fig 6.10: Searching from a website

60
The website will load after a short while. In the website, you are able to
read the information available and navigate from one page to the other
by clicking on links usually highlighted in colour.

links

Fig 6.11: Link

2. Using search engines

A search engine is a software that searches the Internet for the information
specified by the user. An example of a search engine is google shown in
Figure 6.12.

Fig 6.12: Search Engine

61
To search using a search engine:
• Open the web browser from the computer and enter the web address
of the search engine e.g www.google.com.
• In the search, enter the particular information you need and click
search icon.
• The search engine’s search box will display various locations to the
Internet where such information or related information is located.
• Open the locations one at a time as you search for the relevant
information.
Note
Many locations on the Internet will allow you to read, copy, save or print
the information. However, you should note that using someone else`s
information without acknowledging the source is illegal.

Exercise 6.1
1. What do the letters WWW stands for?
2. Name at least two Internet search engines you have learned.
3. Search from the Internet and make notes on:
(a) Effects of drug abuse.
(b) Importance of trees.
(c) Measures taken by the government of Zambia to control the
spread of HIV and AIDS.

62
 Chapter

7 Entrepreneurship
Due to the rising population, many people finish school and colleges and fail
to get formal employment. However, these people can be very successful
in life if they make use of the opportunities around them. For instance,
in our villages, people always look for where to buy milk, vegetables,
and fruits among others. Others want to get their clothes, shoes, broken
furniture and vehicles reapaired. All these needs provide opportunities to
the people with such skills to earn some income.
As we leant in Grade 6, a person who identifies and seizes an opportunity
to make some gains is called an entrepreneur. Many times, people end up
developing their own careers after successfully engaging in entrepreneurial
activities.
In this unit, we will discuss some entrepreneurial career options available
around us. These include carpentry, welding, brick making, laundry, tailoring
and dairy farming.
Entrepreneurial career options
1. Carpentry
Carpentry means the skill of making or fixing wooden structures like
furniture and parts of buildings. The person who does carpentry is called
a carpenter. Figure 7.1 shows a carpenter at work.

Figure 7.1 shows a carpenter at work.

63
Examples of furniture include: wooden tables, chairs, cupboards
bookshelves, doors, windows and beds.
Figure 7.2 (a) shows some of the furniture made by a carpenter.

Figure 7.2: (a) furniture made by a carpenter

Every household needs a number of new furniture and the repair of existing
ones from time to time. This provide many opportunities to people with
the skills in carpentry to earn good income.
Therefore, the skill in carpentry is very important in the society. It is simple
and interesting to learn carpentry when one is determined and motivated
to do so. Thus, we should consider venturing into this entrepreneurial
career among other options after finishing school.

64
2. Welding
Welding is also another entrepreneurial opportunity in which one can
venture into. It is in high demand in the society.
It is a fabrication process that joins metals. Through welding, metallic
objects like doors, windows, beds and motor vehicle bodies are made and
repaired. Joining of the parts is done using electrically molten metal rods
called solders. Fig 7.3 (b) shows some of objects made through welding.

Fig 7.3 (b) shows some of items made through welding.

Nowadays, we see many buildings coming up in all parts of Zambia and
many metallic objects in need of repair. This shows that there are many
opportunities for people with welding skills to earn some good income.
It is simple and interesting to learn welding when one is determined
and motivated to do so. Thus, we should consider venturing into this
entrepreneurial career among other options after finishing school.
3. Brick making
Another entrepreneurial opportunity in our society is brick making. Most
houses in Zambia are constructed using clay bricks. A number of people
especially those who do not have the skills or are too busy prefer buying
ready made and burned bricks. In addition, the bricks have a ready market
in the construction of schools and local hospitals. This provides the brick
makers with wonderful opportunities to earn income.

65
Figure 7.3 shows a burned clay bricks ready for sale.

Figure 7.3 shows a burned clay bricks ready for sale

In Grade 6 and Chapter 2 of this book, we learnt how to make and dry
clay bricks. We saw that they are simple and interesting skills to learn.
They are cheap and easier to make and their returns are very high. Thus,
we should consider venturing into this entrepreneurial career among
other options after finishing school.

Conclusion
The opportunities to make some money easily through entrepreneurship
are all around us. Let us exploit them and grow them to a point that we
become employers instead of waiting to be employed.

Activity 7.1
In groups of threes,
1. Discuss the entrepreneurial opportunities available in our local area.
2. Identify the basic requirements of engaging in carpentry, welding and
brick making as income generating activities.
3. Carry out a research to find out how carpentry, welding and brick
making have benefited the successful artisans in your local area.

66