How computers work: Hardware vs. software for kids – Scratch Garden

Posted

on Apr 5, 2021

Phones, computers, and tablets – oh my! Devices everywhere, every day, all the time! But what exactly makes them work? If you guessed hardware and software, you’d be right! Hardware and software are like the nuts and bolts or peanut butter and jelly or pizza and melty cheese of the computer world – you can’t have one without the other. A computer without software is just a hunk of plastic and metal, and software without a computer is, well, non-existent.

The next adventure in our coding for kids series explores hardware vs. software, an essential computer science lesson for every up-and-coming coding genius. Let’s do this.

What is hardware?

When we’re learning about computers, it can help to think of hardware and software as the body and the mind of the device. Hardware is the body. It’s the real, physical, tangible stuff that we can see and touch. It’s the phone you slip in your pocket or laptop you plonk on your desk. Hardware can be categorized into input and output devices:

• Input devices are things that take in information from the outside world. Examples of inputs include microphones, keyboards, and webcams.
• Output devices project things into the outside world. Examples of output devices include speakers, printers, and monitors.
• Some devices have both input and output capabilities. Touch screens, for example, accept inputs in the form of finger taps and output information on-screen, like the glow of your favorite match-three app or our Camp Coding Camp programming for kids videos.

What is software?

If hardware is the body, the software is the mind. Software is pretty much invisible – it’s not a thing that you can hold. Instead, it’s a series of instructions that tells the hardware what to do. These instructions are called code, and all code is written by creative teams of, you guessed it, people.

??Listen to the whole Coding Songs album here!??

Hardware vs. software examples for kids

Software is all about solving problems and making our lives better, and hardware is the vehicle through which we can experience the benefits of the software. Examples of software and hardware working together include:

• Watching a YouTube video on your laptop
• Listening to music on your phone through headphones
• Typing up an assignment in a document
• Calling your best friend
• Watching a movie on your PC

Software and hardware coding songs

Our Camp Coding Camp hardware software song is as catchy as it is informative. Get the kids excited about computers with our fun, quirky, and upbeat learning programming series. Happy singing!



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