SUBJECTS: Technologies
YEARS: 5–6, 7–8
Ever wondered how your photos, emails and messages get sent between devices?
Watch as software engineer Tess Winlock explains what binary information is, and how it gets from one place to another. Can you explain what 'bits' are? How about 'bytes'?
In the past, binary information was sent using physical systems like semaphore and morse code. Today, binary code is sent using electricity, light and radio waves in the form of wires, fibre optic cables and wifi.
After you've watched this video, see if you can write a list of the pros and cons of each of these technologies. How do you think communication technologies might change in the future?
Please note: the radio waveforms that appear at 5 mins 27 secs in this video are incorrectly labelled. The first one should be AM, the one under it, FM.
Acknowledgements
Video © Code.org
Production Date: 6 Oct 2015
Copyright
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