Information Transfer

Before Video

• A photo is converted into a pattern of 1's and 0's which are sent from one phone to another by electric pulses. That pattern tells the phone receiving the photo how to recreate the photo by turning on and off tiny lights called pixels. Pixels make up the screens of all our devices.

• Morse code is an example of patterns of dots and dashes that were used to transfer information. Today’s technology uses patterns of 1's and 0's to transfer information.

• The more pixels an image is made up of, the higher the resolution of the image and the clearer it will look.

• Music is stored in a phone as a pattern of 1's and 0's. The pattern is a code of information that is translated back to music by the microchip when it plays.

After Video

• Using Morse code, words from messages are translated to a pattern of dots and dashes representing letters and numbers. These patterns of dots and dashes are sent over long distances as pulses of electricity. On the receiving end, the dots and dashes have to be translated back into words so the message can be decoded.

• Both Morse code and our current system use patterns made up of only two things to transfer complex information—Morse code uses dots and dashes and our current system uses 1's and 0's.

• Patterns of 1's and 0's are sent from the microchip to the lights, telling them which ones should turn on. Those that turn on are the ones that create the smiley face.

• The image that uses 1,000,000 pixels to create the image is the clearest because it has the most pixels. The greater the number of pixels, the clearer the image.

• Pixels can be different colors. Instructions for the color of each pixel are provided in the patterns of 1's and 0's.

• Both CDs and phones use patterns of 1's and 0's to play music. However, CDs actually store music as a pattern of holes (1s) and no holes (0s) on the disc. A CD player reads these patterns and converts them back into sound. Phones are more high-tech and store music as patterns of 1's and 0's on microchips.

• No. Computer programmers enter in instructions, called code, that is then translated by the computer into patterns of 1's and 0's.

• Patterns of 1's and 0's tell the 3D printer when and where to lay down plastic. This plastic builds up to create a three-dimensional model. 2D printers use the same concept in two-dimensions.

One of the earliest ways to send messages using a pattern of short and long beeps or a pattern of dots and dashes.

To convert a code into something people can understand.

A signal that can be sent through the air to send and receive information.

The brains of electronic devices. They are often about the size of a coin and located deep inside our phones and computers. Microchips send and receive patterns that help our electronics work.

Tiny lights that make up the screens of our devices which can be turned on and off to form an image.

The process of giving a computer instructions in a language it can understand. Also called "coding."

A series of instructions written by humans and followed by computers.

To send from one place to another.

A series of repeating events.