2. The monitor
The monitor looks
like a TV and lets
lets you see your
work and your files.
3. Cpu
CPU stands for “Central
Processing Unit”. They
contain the brains of
the computer. They
can be desktop models
that the monitor sits on
top of, or tower models
that stand up tall.
4. Floppy Disk Drive
The CPU has places to insert disks.
One kind of disk drive is a floppy
disk drive. A floppy disk drive
reads information from a very
thin, floppy disk inside a hard
plastic case. Floppy disks can
hold up to 1.44 megabytes of
information.
5. CD-ROM Disk Drive
CD-ROM stands for Compact Disk-
Read Only Memory. They are flat,
shiny disks that store information. Most
new computers have CD-RW drives.
CD-RW stands for Compact Disk-
ReWrite. This type of disk allows you to
write information to it, as well as read
from it. Most can hold up to 700
megabytes of information.
7. keyboard
The keyboard is probably
the most used input
device. It operates a lot
like a typewriter, but has
many additional keys
that let it do special
things a typewriter can’t.
8. Special Keyboard Keys
The flashing light on the
computer screen is
called the cursor. This
cursor can be moved up
and down or left and
right by pressing the 4
keys that have arrows on
them. These arrow keys
are called cursor keys.
9. Shift key
When this key is pressed at the same time
you press a letter key, a capital letter
appears on your screen. When it is held
down when you press a key with a symbol
and number, the top symbol appears on
the computer screen. There are two shift
keys on your keyboard.
10. Enter key
When you write a letter or a story pressing
the Enter Key makes the cursor jump down
to the next line. This is a very helpful key to
use when you want to start a new
paragraph or you’re typing your spelling list.
11. mouse
Nope, it’s not a rodent! It’s another input
device. It’s called a mouse because of it’s
shape and the way the cable attaching it
to the computer looks a bit like a tail. There
are two kinds of mice. Some use a roller
ball that allows the mouse to roll around a
flat surface. When you do that and look up
at the screen, you’ll see a small moving
arrow. This arrow is called the pointer.
12. Laser mouse
A laser mouse doesn’t have a roller ball. It
uses a laser light that makes the pointer
move. Laser mice don’t have to have their
insides cleaned!
13. scanner
A scanner is a very useful input device. You
can place a page of writing or pictures in
the scanner and it will send the information
to your computer. There they can be
changed, saved into a computer file, or
printed.
15. printer
One output device is a printer. Once a
computer user has created something on
the computer, such as a story, he can send
it to the printer. The printer prints exactly
what’s on the screen.
16. Two Common Types of
Printers
An inkjet printer usually prints in
color. It prints by squirting out
small dots of ink onto the
paper.
A laser printer uses a laser
beam to create an image
that is transferred to paper. It
uses toner and a drum. The
ink is powder.
17. soundboard
A soundboard is an electronic circuit
board, located inside the computer, that
can produce music and high quality
sounds. If you play video games and
multimedia programs on your computer,
you’ll need a soundboard
18. speakers
Speakers can be connected to your
computer so you can hear very realistic
sound effects and wonderful music. Some
computer monitors come with built in
speakers.
19. Computer Processing
Once information has been sent to a
computer by one of the input devices it’s
processed. The computer uses it’s brain to
process the information. The computer’s
brain is called the CPU, or Central
Processing Unit.
20. ram
When a computer processes information, it
uses software programs. Each program
requires a certain amount of electronic
memory, or RAM (Random Access Memory)
to run correctly.
21. rom
A second kind of computer memory is ROM,
which stands for Read-Only Memory. This
memory is permanent. The information
there was put there when the computer
was made. The computer needs the
information in it’s ROM memory in order to
function
22. Hard disk drive
The Hard Disk Drive is a magnetic
storage device. All the computer
programs and files you create and
save are located there. This is
permanent storage (at least until
you uninstall software or delete a
file). The hard drive is normally
signified by the drive letter “C”.
Today’s hard drives can store a
HUGE amount of information. A
new computer might have a hard
drive that will hold 250 GB’s!
23. Motherboard
Your computer couldn’t work without the
motherboard. It ties everything together!
It allows every part of your computer to
receive power and communicate with
each other. Everything that runs the
computer or enhances it’s performance is
either part of the motherboard or plugs
into one of it’s expansion slots or ports.
24. BIOS CHIP
A BIOS chip (Basic Input Output System)
is a very important computer
component. In simple terms, the BIOS
chip wakes up the computer when you
turn it on and reminds it what parts it has
and what they do!
