Students open what each row of a spec sheet measures (processor, RAM, storage, network, graphics), compare a phone, a laptop and a server, and set a spec sheet to match an advert (AC9TDI8K01 node 1).
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Students will be able to
I can name the main specs on a spec sheet.
I can say what each spec measures, in plain words.
I can explain why a phone, a laptop and a server have different specs.
Timing
Predict and Try 6 min · Worked example 9 min · Vary 8 min · Practise and Make 12 min
Before class
Try the boards yourself.
The one idea: each spec measures a different thing. Lesson 2 needs this exact vocabulary to find a bottleneck, so a student who still mixes up RAM and storage at the exit ticket needs a second go before lesson 2 (this is a hinge).
Hands-on: bring an old desktop or laptop to open, or show a teardown photo, and point at each part. Students can find their own device's specs under Settings › About (phones show storage clearly; RAM is often hidden).
The kitchen comparison (chefs, bench, pantry, delivery van, helpers) is on the board; use it consistently. Numbers on the board are simplified and round; real prices change.
Running the lesson
Predict: students who chose storage hold Sam's misconception.
Try: ask which rows are about "how much" and which about "how fast".
Worked example: model reading each line aloud: part, number, what it measures.
Vary: ask why a server needs so much RAM if nobody sits at it.
Make: ask which line of the advert was hardest to place, and why.
The hard part (on purpose)
Everyday language calls both RAM and storage "memory". Hold the line: working space (RAM) versus what it keeps (storage), every time it comes up.
When students get stuck
What you will see
A question to ask
The fix
A student adds RAM and storage together (Sam's mistake).
Which one empties when you switch off?
RAM; they are different parts for different jobs.
A student reads GB as speed.
Is a bigger pantry a faster chef?
GB is an amount; GHz and Mb/s are speeds.
Answers to the checks
which spec?: A laptop slows down when you have 40 browser tabs open. Which spec is most about how much it can work on at the same time? RAM: it holds everything the computer is working on right now. Storage is what it keeps; the processor is how fast it works.
Try: read the spec sheet: Press "What does it measure?" on all five rows. Which one is about how much it can work on at once?
RAM. Storage is how much it keeps; the processor is how fast it works; the network is how fast data arrives.
One line at a time: A phone box says **256 GB**. Which spec is that, most likely? Storage: how much it can keep Storage. Phone RAM is much smaller, usually 4 to 16 GB.
Find the mistake: Sam reads a phone's spec sheet. Click the line where it first goes wrong. line 2 Line 2: RAM and storage are different parts that measure different things. 8 GB of RAM is the working space; 256 GB of storage is what it keeps.
Units: Which unit measures how fast data arrives over a network? Mb/s (megabits a second) Bandwidth is measured in bits a second: Mb/s or Gb/s.
The phone: The board shows the phone. How much RAM does it have? 8 GB 8 GB of RAM to work in, and 256 GB of storage to keep things.
The laptop: Switch to the laptop. What is the biggest difference from the phone? Twice the RAM, so more open at once 16 GB against 8 GB: room for more apps and tabs at once. The phone has more cores, but each phone app does less.
The server: Switch to the server. Why does it have 128 GB of RAM and a 10 Gb/s network? Thousands of people use it at once, each with their own work A server answers many people at once: lots of working space and a fast connection.
Graphics: Which device has a graphics card, and what is it for? The server: thousands of small sums at once, as in AI Servers that train AI models use graphics cards, which do many simple sums at the same time.
Sort: Which part does each spec describe? 3.2 GHz → Processor; 6 cores → Processor; 16 GB, empties when switched off → RAM; 1 TB SSD → Storage; 2 TB hard disk (HDD) → Storage; Wi-Fi 6, up to 600 Mb/s → Network GHz and cores: processor. Working space: RAM. SSD and HDD: storage. Mb/s: network.
Storage full: Your phone says "Storage full". Which part has run out? Storage Storage holds your photos and apps. Deleting things frees it.
Review: bits: Review: how many different patterns can 8 bits make? 256 2⁸ = 256 patterns, 0 to 255.
build it from an advert: An advert says: "8-core 3.0 GHz processor, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, 1 Gb/s wired network, built-in graphics." Set the spec sheet to match.
Every line of the advert is one part and one number. Now you can read any spec sheet.
Solutions
One possible solution for each task. Other correct programs are fine.
Vary: phone, laptop, server › The phone
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Vary: phone, laptop, server › The laptop
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Vary: phone, laptop, server › The server
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Vary: phone, laptop, server › Graphics
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
build it from an advert
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Stretch and support
Stretch: Look up the specs of a games console and a Chromebook. Which spec is very different, and why does that suit what each is for?
Support: A card with five rows: part, unit, what it measures, kitchen picture.
Exit ticket
Name three specs and say what each one measures.
For example: RAM, how much it can work on at once; storage, how much it keeps with the power off; processor GHz, how fast each core works; network Mb/s, how fast data arrives.
What each step is for
which spec?: Committing to which spec decides how many apps stay open tests the new move, what each spec measures, before students read the sheet.
Try: read the spec sheet: Opening what each row measures settles the prediction: RAM is the working space, not storage or speed.
Worked example: reading a spec sheet: Reading a real advert line by line models the new move: name the part, say what its number measures. Sam adds RAM and storage together, the misconception planted after the method.
Vary: phone, laptop, server: Each task changes one thing, the device, so students see the same specs matter differently: a phone, a laptop, then a server that many people use at once.
sort the specs: Sorting spec-sheet phrases by part is the same move in mixed forms, plus a review of how many patterns bits make.
build it from an advert: Setting the board to match an advert reverses the process: from the words on a spec sheet to the parts they describe.
Where it leads
Next: Find the bottleneck (which spec slows a job down).
Links: Data representation (bits and bytes: a GB is about a billion bytes; Mb/s is millions of bits); Networks (bandwidth).