How hardware and software work together
Aligned to CSTA-CS — CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards.
What this lesson teaches
Hardware is the physical parts of a device you can touch, like the screen, the keyboard, and the chips inside that do the thinking. Software is the set of instructions that tells the hardware what to do, like apps and games. A device needs both working together: hardware is the body and software is the ideas it follows.
Worked example
Think of a music box. The metal parts that spin and pluck are the hardware. The bumpy pattern on the cylinder that decides which notes play is like the software. Change the pattern and you get a different song from the very same machine.
Practice questions
- Give one example of hardware and one example of software.
- Why does a device need both hardware and software to be useful?
- Is a game app hardware or software? Explain how you know.
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
Cómo trabajan juntos el hardware y el software
El hardware son las partes físicas de un dispositivo que puedes tocar, como la pantalla, el teclado y los chips que están adentro y hacen los cálculos. El software es el conjunto de instrucciones que le dice al hardware qué hacer, como las aplicaciones y los juegos. Un dispositivo necesita que ambos trabajen juntos: el hardware es el cuerpo y el software son las ideas que sigue.
Ejemplo: Piensa en una caja de música. Las piezas de metal que giran y puntean las notas son el hardware. El patrón con protuberancias en el cilindro que decide qué notas se tocan es como el software. Cambia el patrón y obtienes una canción diferente con la misma máquina.
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