Revision notes for year 11

Today we had a look at the first 5 questions from our mock test. This is a quick reminder of the main points that came up in discussion, and some extra resources to help you revise.

The mock exam is still under restriction from the exam board, hence I cannot link to it here.

Question 1.

When examiners create exams they anticipate students being nervous at the start of exams. The trick with questions like this one is to calm yourself and read it carefully. These types of questions need you to almost physically slow yourself down and to read carefully.  Also check carefully these questions at the end of the exam.  your nerves have gone by then, but you still may need these marks.

Question 2

Although the question asks for an answer, the examiner is after your working more than the actual answer.  This is true for most mathematical questions in computing. 

^ means to the power of

Facts to remember: 2^10 = 1024

1 kilobyte = 1024 bytes 

1 megabyte = 1024 kilobytes = 1024^2 bytes

1 gigabyte = 1024 megabytes = 1024^3 bytes

1 terabyte = 1024 gigabytes = 1024^4 bytes

1 petabyte = 1024 terabytes = 1024^5 bytes

We also discussed the ROM and RAM in a computer.

key differences:

• ROM is smaller than RAM
• ROM contains BIOS, 
• ROM is non-volatile, RAM is Volatile.
• ROM contains enough information to boot the computer and load an Operating system.  
• RAM is the working memory of the computer.  It is the "what am I doing here and now?"

More information - Bitesize

Question 3

Question 3 relates to computer hardware, and in particular the Von-Neuman Architecture.

Good links to help:

• a good you tube video 
• An explaining chapter.

We will do more about this later.

Question 4

This related again to the Von-Neuman architecture of a machine.  The key point in this question was the language used in the test.

If an exam asks you to state an answer, you simply write the answer down.  if a question asks you to describe a something you state it first, then justify your statement.

for example:

State a hardware improvement to help a blind person:
 - A braille keyboard
Describe a hardware improvement to help a blind person:
 - A braille keyboard would provide a familiar interface for blind people to use.

Question 5

This question related to number systems used with computers and other systems.  in particular converting between denary (base 10), and binary (base 2).  I have attached a couple of resources for the questions we went through today, but these are quite advanced, don't be afraid to ask!

resources:

• very good youtube video.
• a website (this goes into a lot of detail)

Points for future

We will have a couple of lessons relating to the "Von-Neumann" computing architecture, and binary numbers. We will go through some more of the mock next Friday.