JSS 1 First Term

Lesson objectives

By the end of the week, learners should be able to:

1. Distinguish memory from storage and give one example of each.
2. Explain why RAM is volatile and ROM is non-volatile.
3. Convert between bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes and terabytes using 1024.
4. Classify storage devices as magnetic, optical or solid state, with an example of each.
5. Compare storage media on capacity, speed, portability and cost.
6. State three rules for safe use of a flash drive and one reason for keeping a backup.

Key vocabulary

• Memory: the working area that holds programs and data currently in use, such as RAM.
• Storage: the long-term place where files are kept when the computer is switched off.
• Volatile: loses its contents when power is removed, as RAM does.
• Non-volatile: keeps its contents without power, as ROM, a hard disk or a flash drive does.
• Byte: eight bits, the basic unit of storage.
• Magnetic storage: stores data as magnetised areas, such as a hard disk drive or magnetic tape.
• Optical storage: read by laser, such as a CD, DVD or Blu-ray disc.
• Solid-state storage: stores data in flash memory with no moving parts, such as an SSD, flash drive or memory card.
• Backup: a second copy of files kept in case the original is lost or damaged.

Common misconceptions

• "Memory and storage are the same." RAM is temporary working space. Storage keeps files when the power is off.
• "Deleting a file removes it completely." It usually goes to the Recycle Bin first and can be restored.
• "Cloud storage means the file is not on any device." It is stored on someone else's server and needs a connection to reach.

Teacher activities

1. Starter: ask learners where a phone photograph goes when the phone is switched off, and collect three different answers.
2. Draw the memory and storage distinction, with RAM, ROM and secondary storage in the correct places.
3. Build the unit sequence on the board: bit, byte, KB, MB, GB, TB, and work two conversions with the class.
4. Pass round a hard disk, a CD, a flash drive and a memory card. Name each type and its technology.
5. Model a capacity comparison: how many 4 MB photographs fit on a 2 GB card, and how many 700 MB CDs equal one 4.7 GB DVD.
6. Close with the safe-use rules and a class discussion of the reasons for keeping a backup.

Student activities

1. Answer the starter in one sentence before discussion.
2. Copy the memory and storage diagram and add two examples to each side.
3. Complete five unit conversions, showing the working.
4. Identify each device passed round and write its storage type.
5. Solve the two capacity problems with a partner and compare methods.
6. Write three flash-drive safety rules and one sentence on the value of a backup.

Practical / learning evidence

A conversion worksheet with at least five worked conversions, a three-row storage-type table (magnetic, optical, solid state) with an example and a typical capacity for each, and the two worked capacity problems with the method shown.

Resources and preparation

A hard disk drive, a CD or DVD, a flash drive, a memory card and, if available, an SSD. A short video or demonstration of a CD being read. Calculators for the conversion work. Printed conversion worksheets. Offline route: physical media and worksheets. No computer is required. Warn learners not to insert unknown flash drives into laboratory machines.

Assessment for learning

Mark the working as well as the final answer. A correct answer from a wrong method will fail later questions. Check that RAM is placed under memory, since RAM is working memory. Ask two learners to explain their capacity method aloud before collection.

Inclusion and homework

Allow a printed conversion ladder as a reference for learners who need it, and reduce the worksheet to three items where time is short. Extend confident learners with a comparison of an SSD and a hard disk for a school that needs speed. Homework: find out the storage capacity of any phone, memory card or computer you can access and write it in gigabytes.