Hey there! Have you ever wondered what makes a computer work? Well, inside every computer is something called a computer chip or processor. It’s like the brain of the computer, helping it do all sorts of tasks and remember things. If you look at it under a microscope, it looks like a colorful city from above!
Did you know that the first “computers” were actually people? A long time ago, people who were really good at math were called computers. They solved tricky math problems, like figuring out how many engines a plane needed or helping rockets reach space. One famous human computer was Katherine Johnson, whose math skills helped land the first astronaut on the moon. There’s even a movie about her called “Hidden Figures”—it’s a great watch!
But when we think of computers today, we usually mean the machines we use for games, schoolwork, or watching videos. The first electronic computers were invented to help human computers solve really hard math problems. These early computers were huge! One of the first ones, called the ENIAC, was so big it filled an entire room and weighed as much as 60 polar bears!
These giant computers were mostly used by big businesses and universities because they were very expensive. They were like giant calculators, only doing math problems. You couldn’t play games or watch videos on them.
Then came the home computers, like the Apple II. These were smaller and cheaper, so some families could have them at home. They had screens and keyboards, but they were still different from the computers we use today.
One of the first computer games was called Zork I. It didn’t have any pictures, just words! Playing it was like reading a story where you typed commands like “pick up treasure” to see what happened next. It was exciting for kids back then!
Adults loved these new computers too because they made writing easier. Before computers, people wrote everything by hand or used a typewriter, which was slow and tricky. But with computers, if you made a mistake, you could just press a button to fix it!
Over the years, computers have become even better. They’ve gotten smaller, smarter, and more useful. Now, we even have computers in our pockets—our smartphones!
So, computers started as tools to solve math problems, but now they’re a big part of our lives. From giant machines to tiny devices, they help us with school, fun, and staying in touch with friends.
Thanks for joining this adventure into the world of computers! Stay curious, and keep exploring the amazing inventions around us. See you next time!
Build Your Own “Computer Chip” City: Gather some colorful building blocks or LEGO pieces. Imagine you are looking at a computer chip under a microscope. Use the blocks to create your own “chip city” with different sections representing parts of a computer, like the processor, memory, and storage. Think about what each part might do and how they work together to make the computer function. Share your creation with a family member and explain what each part represents.
Human Computer Challenge: Just like the first human computers, try solving some math problems using only your brain and a pencil. You can start with simple addition or subtraction problems and then try something a bit more challenging, like multiplication or division. Imagine you are helping a rocket reach space! How fast can you solve these problems? Ask a friend or family member to join you and see who can solve them the quickest.
Observe and Report: Take a walk around your home or classroom and make a list of all the devices you see that use computer chips. This could include smartphones, tablets, laptops, or even smart appliances. Think about how each device helps make life easier or more fun. Write a short report or draw a picture showing how computers are part of your everyday life and share it with your class.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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(phone ringing) – Hi, it’s Doug. A friend of mine knows someone who works at a computer company, and they gave me this. Can you guess what it is? It’s part of a computer chip or processor; it’s kind of like the brain inside a computer. It’s the part that helps the computer do work and remember things. And under a microscope, this looks beautiful. Check it out. Doesn’t it look like a picture of a colorful city taken from way up in the sky? Any computer you use at school or at home has at least one or two of these inside of it.
Someone named Josie has a question about computers. Let’s give Josie a call now. (phone rings) – Hi, Doug? – Hi, Josie? – I have a question for you. What were the first computers like? – That’s a great question. And here’s the answer. Now, this probably isn’t the type of answer you were thinking of, but believe it or not, the very first computers were actually people. For hundreds of years, people who computed or solved complicated math problems were called computers. That’s what the word used to mean; it was a person’s job. These human computers did everything from figuring out how many engines a plane needed to fly to getting rockets into space, like Katherine Johnson did. Her math computing skills helped land the first astronaut on the moon. And the story of her life is featured in the movie, “Hidden Figures,” which is a great movie. Definitely check it out if you haven’t already seen it.
Okay, but I know that when you’re wondering about what the first computers were like, you’re probably most curious not about human computers, but about the type of computers that we use to play games, do schoolwork, or watch videos on. What were those first computers like? Before I say anything more, I’m curious. What do you think the world’s first computers were like? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss.
– Okay, you’re ready? Have you ever had to do a really hard math problem? Like maybe a word problem with a lot of steps? If you did, you probably know that some problems are really complicated and take a long time to solve without help. And the same goes for these human computers; even though they were really good at math, some problems were just too long or too difficult for them to easily solve on their own. So scientists wondered, could they invent a machine that could help human computers solve math problems? After hundreds of years of trying, inventors finally came up with some of the very first electronic computers. They didn’t have screens like our computers. They didn’t really have keyboards, and they were big—really big, like this one. This is the ENIAC, one of the first computers ever invented. It was so huge that it took up an entire room, and it weighed a lot too—nearly 30 tons. That’s about the same weight as 60 grown polar bears.
These first computers weren’t only huge; they were expensive—so expensive that only large businesses or universities could afford to buy one. And they weren’t all that fun either. Computers like ENIAC were actually just giant calculators that helped people solve really complicated math problems. So you couldn’t video chat with friends on them, you couldn’t watch videos on them, and you couldn’t even take them home to play games on. All these computers could do was math.
But then computers like these came along. Computers like the Apple II were called home computers because they were small and a lot cheaper—eventually cheap enough for some families, not just businesses, to buy and use in their homes. But even though these new home computers had screens and keyboards just like the computers we use today, they weren’t quite the same.
Like take a look at this game. This is Zork I, one of the first-ever computer games. Notice anything different from the games we play now? See how there are no pictures? That’s because some of the first games didn’t have any graphics or pictures; they just had words. Playing a game was kind of like reading a story. To tell a character what to do, players would type in words like “pick up treasure” or “throw rock.” And then new words would appear, telling you what happened next. Now games like Zork I may not look like that much fun to you or me, but they were new and exciting back then, and kids loved them.
And adults were excited about these new computers too, but for a different reason. See, before home computers, people did a lot of writing. They’d write reports for work and school, they’d write letters to their friends, and they had to do it all with a pen and paper or on a machine called the typewriter. That could take a long time, and if you messed up, you might have to start all over. But see this button? To people who bought the first home computers, this button seemed like magic. Now you didn’t need to use an eraser or throw your page away and start all over. If you messed up, you could just hit the button, and your mistakes would disappear.
Each year, these home computers became more and more popular, and they got better too. Since the time of the Apple II, computers have gotten smarter, easier to carry, and more useful than they’d ever been before. In fact, one of the biggest advances of our time is that we now have computers that fit in our pockets. You might think of smartphones as just smartphones, but they’re actually computers with a touch screen on them that are small enough to fit in your pocket.
So in summary, electronic computers were invented to help solve complicated math problems. But since then, they’ve become so much more. From giant computers as big as a room to home computers that could fit in your house, computers have become an invention that we rely on every day for fun, for school, and for talking with our friends.
That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks, Josie, for asking it. Now, after this video is done playing, my friends and I here at Mystery Science have created a special activity where you’ll investigate an invention you may not have thought of before: beds. You’ll explore different bed inventions and then create a bed invention of your very own. You can do this in a group or all by yourself. I hope you’ll try it.
Now for the next episode, I reached into my question jar and picked out three questions sent into me that I’m thinking about answering next. When this video is done playing, you’ll get to vote on one. You can choose from: What’s the tallest skyscraper anyone can build? How is cardboard made? Or, how do boats float? So submit your vote when the video is over; I want to hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us; stay curious, and see you next week.
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This version maintains the essence of the original transcript while ensuring clarity and appropriateness.
