Lesson 1: Computer systems

and system software

KS4 - Computer systems
 Starter activity

What makes a computer?

What characteristics does a device need to

have to be considered a computer?

Discuss with the person next to you.

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 Starter activity

What makes a computer?

Which of these devices are computers?

Do they have the characteristics you
discussed?

● Mobile phone
● Video game console
● A tablet
● Calculator
● Smart watch
● Laser pointer
● Coffee machine
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 Starter activity

What is a computer?

A programmable device that takes in data,

processes it into useful information, and
then outputs the information so it can be
used.

This is often described in the computing

cycle you can see on the right.

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 Objectives

Lesson 1: Computer systems and system software

In this lesson, you will:
● Define an embedded system
● Compare embedded and general purpose computer systems
● Describe the role of system software as part of a computer system
● Explain the role of the operating system and utility software

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 Activity 1

Spot the embedded systems

Both a mobile phone and a coffee maker

are computers, but they are very different
devices.

Computer systems can be categorised as

either:
● General purpose
● Embedded systems

How would you categorise the mobile

phone and coffee maker?
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 Activity 1

Spot the embedded systems

Mobile phone: General purpose

Coffee maker: Embedded system

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 Activity 1

Spot the embedded systems

General purpose computers are devices

that have a variety of uses, the user
chooses the task for the computer to
complete.

Embedded systems are more specialised,

they can only do a limited number of
things, but they do them very well.

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 Activity 1

Spot the embedded systems

Inside this room there are lots of

computers. Some of them are
general purpose and others are
embedded systems.

On your own, sort them into two

lists.
1. Embedded
2. General purpose

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 Activity 1

Spot the embedded systems

General purpose:
● Used for many different
types of tasks
● Lots of resources —
memory, storage, CPU cores
● Most tasks require a user

Embedded systems:
● ?
● ?
● ?
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 Activity 1

Spot the embedded systems

Embedded systems
● Coffee machine
● Vacuum robot
● Thermostat
● Security system
● Bluetooth speaker
● …?

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 Activity 1

Spot the embedded systems

General purpose:
● Used for many different types of
tasks
● Lots of resources — memory,
storage, CPU cores
● Most uses require a user

Embedded systems:
● Specialised to a specific task/set of
tasks
● Limited resources
● Often function without a user
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 Activity 2

Embedded systems in the classroom

What computers and devices can you spot

in the classroom?

Can you find any embedded systems?

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 Activity 3

The start-up sequence

Computers work due to a combination of:

● Hardware components
● Software

You are going to examine how they work

by looking at what happens when you
press the power button.

First, you need to learn about some

important components.

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 Activity 3

The start-up sequence

The CPU

The central processing unit, is a large chip

inside the computer.

It is the brains of the computer: it controls

everything.

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 Activity 3

The start-up sequence

RAM

Random access memory

● RAM is both readable and writable.

You can add, change, and delete data
stored in RAM.
● It is volatile. When the computer is
switched off, all the data stored in
RAM is lost.
● It is fast to read/write.
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 Activity 3

The start-up sequence

ROM

Read-only memory

● ROM is read-only
● ROM is non-volatile memory, which
means it does not need power to keep
the data inside it
● It is also fast

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 Activity 3

The start-up sequence

Hard drive

The hard drive (sometimes called the hard

disk) is the main storage device in your
computer.

If you have files and folders on your

computer, they are stored on the hard
drive. The operating system is also stored
on the hard drive.

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 Activity 3

The start-up sequence

BIOS

Contains all the basic code for controlling

your computer hardware (such as
keyboards, mice, monitors, and hard
drives).

When you start up your computer, you

may see a black screen displaying ‘Press
F2 for Setup’. This is the BIOS.

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 Activity 3

The start-up sequence

Your worksheet has the steps your

computer goes through when you press
the power button.

There is space for you to number the steps

to put them in the right order.

You can do this with a partner, we will go

through the steps after this.

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 Activity 3

The start-up sequence

1. The boot sequence begins

2. CPU starts up and fetches the
BIOS from ROM

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 Activity 3

The start-up sequence

3. Instructions from BIOS are loaded

into RAM

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 Activity 3

The start-up sequence

4. BIOS starts up the monitor and

keyboard

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 Activity 3

The start-up sequence

5. BIOS checks your computer is

working

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 Activity 3

The start-up sequence

6. Operating system is fetched from

secondary storage

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 Activity 3

The start-up sequence

7. Operating system is loaded into

RAM

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 Activity 3

The start-up sequence

8. The BIOS hands over control to

the operating system

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 Activity 4

Operating systems and system software

Most computer systems require more than

just a program to run.

Another layer of software is required

called system software.

There are two main types of system

software
1. Operating systems
2. Utility software

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 Activity 4

Operating systems and system software

Software
IDE
l a yer s Browsers s
e op
Vid Vi
System software de
og
tors am
di Interpreters es
xte Encryption
Te ng
t i BI
e ra ms Hardware OS
Op yste
s
CPU Peripherals
Storage Memory

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 Activity 4

Operating systems and system software

Operating systems are pieces of software

that regulate interactions between
software and hardware.

There are lots of different operating

systems. The most popular are:
● Windows
● macOS
● Linux
● Android

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 Activity 4

Operating systems

Roles of the operating system:

● Error handling
● Program management
● Memory management
● Interaction with the user
● Processor management
● Input and output
● Security
● File management

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 Plenary

The roles of an operating system

Error handling When a program fails or encounters a problem, the operating system protects
the wider system from crashing.

Program management Often our computers are running multiple processes at once. The operating
system makes sure that each application has enough resources to accomplish
its tasks.

Memory management The operating system controls where each piece of data is stored in RAM.

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 Plenary

The roles of an operating system

Interaction with the user The operating system provides a graphical user interface which makes
operating the computer much simpler.

Processor management Instructions are executed by the CPU, but the operating system controls
which instructions are fed in to be executed.

Input and output The operating system captures data from peripherals and provides data to the
output devices to display to the user.

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 Plenary

The roles of an operating system

Security The operating system stops unauthorised individuals from accessing data on
secondary storage or the data in memory.

File management When you save data to your hard drive, the operating system will find an
available section of storage and send the data to be written to that location.

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 Summary

Next lesson

In this lesson, you… Next lesson, you will…

Discovered the difference between Revise the computer systems content

embedded and general purpose systems covered so far

Described the role of an operating system
Explained the uses of utility software
Create a quiz using all the questions you
have been writing
Test yourselves by completing each
other’s quizzes

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