New York State Standards
MST 5.3  Key Idea

Computers, as tools for design, modeling,
information processing, communication, and system control,
have greatly increased human productivity and knowledge.

Computer Hardware- the machine parts of a computer.
To see the inside of a computer and learn about the different parts, go to http://www.kids-online.net/learn/c_n_l.html

Input devices- allow data to go into the computer.
Examples: keyboard, mouse, microphone, disk drives, scanner, digital camera, etc.

Processing- The CPU is the heart of the computer where instructions are carried out and activity is controlled. 

Output devices- send data out of the computer.
Examples: monitor, speakers, printer, disk drives, cd burner, etc.

Computer Software- are  programs.  Types of programs include:

• Word Processing- used to type, edit or store text documents.

• Desktop Publishing- manipulates text and graphics easily.

• Spreadsheet- organizes and performs operations on numbers.

• Database- organizes and manipulates data.  example: library database.

• Simulation Software- models real life experiences.

• CAD- Computer Aided Drafting, for technical drawing and 3D simulations.

• Games

The Internet is a collection of networked computers throughout the world.  The World Wide Web (www) is just part of the internet.  The modem is the piece of hardware that allows your computer to communicate with others on the internet.

Search Engines, Yahooligans, Google, Hotbot etc., help you search for information on the Internet.
Some tips for successful web searches:

• spell correctly
• use quotations around groups of words you wish to search for together
      example: "Seattle Mariners" if you wish to find the baseball team
• use several search engines, try different search terms
• read the search HELP, different protocols (rules) for searching are used by each search engine

Webopedia is a dictionary of computer terms: http://webopedia.internet.com/

Some examples of computer simulations:

• Paper Airplane Flight Simulator: http://www.flyingtoys.com/free_stuff_NP/flight_sim/flight_sim.html

• West Point Bridge Designer: http://bridgecontest.usma.edu/

• sodaconstructor: http://sodaplay.com/constructor/index.htm

Remotely control a real robot in Australia:  http://telerobot.mech.uwa.edu.au/
      I played with this robot 8/02, at the time of this posting, the server was not responding.