Computing Systems and Networks

Summary

Materials

• Day 3 PowerPoint deck
• M-Lab's Speed Test
• M-Lab's Visualizations
• What is the Cloud?
• Underwater Data Centers

Instructional Activities and Classroom Assessments

1. Reading Review (10 minutes)
2. Computing Systems and Computer Networks (10 minutes)
3. Bandwidth and Latency (10 minutes)
4. IP Addresses and Domain Names (5 minutes)
5. Cloud Computing (10 minutes)

Learning Objectives

• Computational Thinking Practices. Skill 5.A
• CSN-1.A Explain how computing devices work together in a network.
• CSN-1.B

Essential Knowledge

• CSN-1.A.2 A computing system is a group of computing devices and programs working together for a common purpose.
• CSN-1.A.3 A computer network is a group of interconnected computing devices capable of sending or receiving data.
• CSN-1.A.4 A computer network is a type of computing system.
• CSN-1.A.5 A path between two computing devices on a computer network (a sender and a receiver) is a sequence of directly connected computing devices that begins at the sender and ends at the receiver.
• CSN-1.A.6 Routing is the process of finding a path from sender to receiver.
• CSN-1.A.7 The bandwidth of a computer network is the maximum amount of data that can be sent in a fixed amount of time.
• CSN-1.A.8 Bandwidth is usually measured in bits per second.
• CSN-1.B.1
• CSN-1.B.2
• CSN-1.B.3
• CSN-1.B.4
• CSN-1.B.5

Details

1. Reading Review (10 minutes)

• Discuss the answers to the following questions related to last night's assigned reading:
  • What does "End to End" in the Internet mean?
  • What is net neutrality and why is it important?

2. Computing Systems and Computer Networks (10 minutes)

• Define computing systems.
• Define computer networks.
• Discuss networks we use.
• School network
• Home network

3. Bandwidth and Latency (10 minutes)

• Define bandwidth
• Discuss difference between uploads and downloads
• Compare students Internet speeds with the country and world:
  • Internet speed test
  • Internet speed maps
• Latency
• Measuring Latency
  • Ping command
  • Tracert command

4. IP Addresses and Domain Names (5 minutes)

• Explain what an IP address is:
  • IPv4
  • IPv6
• Find Your IP address.
• Discuss subnet mask, gateway default, and DNS.
• Define hostname.
• Define DNS.
• Examples of top-level domain names.

5. Cloud Computing (10 minutes)

• Define cloud computing.
• Discuss examples of cloud computing.
• Ask students to share ways they use cloud computing.
• Types of cloud computing.