Students develop a code by assigning letters to a selection of the objects and send messages to one another by using their drop code. Further activities encourage the students to create codes to communicate with members of their groups. Some programs stay permanently in the machine but most are coded on disks. Computers can be programmed to store, retrieve, and perform operations on information. These operations include mathematical calculations, word processing, diagram drawing, and the modeling of complex events.
Mistakes can occur when people enter programs or data into a computer.
Computers themselves can make errors in information processing because of defects in their hardware or software. Tools, such as thermometers and x-ray machines, provide us clues about what is happening inside the body. Technology has made it possible to repair and sometimes replace some body parts. Students investigate their own articulated skeletons by immobilizing certain hand joints and then performing everyday tasks. Students categorize the types of joints in the human body and compare the movement of mechanical devices to the function of human joints.