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In this video, Michael Pound asks what it is that computers actually do. They read instructions, use maths and logic, and then store and use numbers! Every time you use a computer, no matter what complex application or game you're running, it's still built up of these tiny simple instructions.

Once we've looked at how this works, we have a go at running a simple program using two instructions. Once you've watched the video, maybe you can try writing and running your own programs!

Talking points:

• All applications, from internet browsers, to word processors and games use instructions just like these.
• Modern computer processors are very fast - often thousands or even hundreds of thousands of instructions per second!
• Just like how we can break everyday tasks into small steps, can you imagine that we could combine many small instructions to get something much more complicated?
• Do you think it's possible for computers to do something beyond or different from what is in their program? To not do what they're told?
• In real memory we use numbered addresses, a bit like house numbers, instead of coloured circles.

Resources:

• Worksheet: Writing simple programs [Link]
• Templates: Program [Link], Memory [Link], Coloured circles [Link]