Course Content
Part 2: Talking Without Words
How people used to send messages across long distances The story of light flashes, drum beats, smoke signals, and Morse code Why using dots and dashes (or 0s and 1s) is so powerful. Let’s Talk in Just Two Choices: On or Off - What is binary, and why do computers love it? How “on” and “off” can mean anything—yes/no, true/false, A/B Why 2 choices are enough to build everything
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Part 3: How Electricity Can Carry a Message
What is a circuit? How flipping a switch sends a message Why computers are made of millions of tiny switches.
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Part 4: Building Ideas Using Only Switches
What is a logic gate? (Explained without saying “logic gate”) How switches can help us decide things How “AND,” “OR,” and “NOT” control what a computer does.
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Part 5: How to Count, Add, and Remember With Just Wires
How computers add numbers using only switches What memory really is: remembering a single bit, then a byte How your computer stores your name, photos, and passwords. How switches can do math with just yes/no What memory means for a machine What bits and bytes really are (without the jargon). What are AND, OR, NOT, and more. How pictures, words, and videos are stored as 0s and 1s.
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Part 6: Making Bigger Ideas with Tiny Ones
What is a byte? What is a file? How letters, music, pictures, and videos become 0s and 1s What happens when you type on a keyboard
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Part 7: Meet the Heart of the Computer — the CPU
What the CPU really does (without calling it “central processing unit”) How it reads instructions, decides things, and tells others what to do How fast is it, really?
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Part 8: Let’s Look Inside a Real Computer
What is a motherboard? How all the parts connect: CPU, memory, storage, input/output What happens when you turn a computer on.
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Part 9: What Is Software and Who Tells It What to Do?
What is an operating system? How computers follow code like a recipe What happens when you open an app
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Part 10: How Is a Phone Like a Computer?
What’s different inside a phone or tablet? How mobile computers are smaller—but just as powerful Why phones still need the same ideas: binary, circuits, memory.
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Let’s Find Out How Computers Work

🔍 Electricity Powers Everything!

Before we can talk about circuits or switches, let’s ask:
What even is electricity?
If we don’t understand the thing that powers everything from light bulbs to laptops, we’ll never understand computers.

So let’s begin with the real basics.

🔌 What Is Electricity?

Electricity is the movement of tiny bits called electrons. Electrons live inside atoms, and they can move from one atom to another if they’re pushed.

Imagine electrons like water in a pipe. When you push water at one end, it flows to the other. In the same way, electricity flows through wires when we push electrons.

This push is called voltage.
The flow is called current.

voltage and current

But the most important thing:
👉 Electricity is a way to send a signal—from one place to another.

That’s why computers use it: It’s fast, invisible, and easy to control.

🔋 Where Does Electricity Come From?

Electricity can come from:

  • Batteries

  • Power plants

  • Solar panels

  • Even rubbing certain materials together (static electricity)

But no matter the source, all we need is a flow of electrons to carry a message.

💡 Why Is It Useful?

Because electricity can move so fast—almost the speed of light—it lets computers send signals instantly. One small pulse can mean:

  • “Yes” or “No”

  • “On” or “Off”

  • “True” or “False”

And that’s the beginning of binary communication.