Session Overview
Welcome to Session 1!
In this first session, we'll explore the fundamental concepts of technology and the internet. We'll learn about how computers communicate, what happens when you click a link, and how to be a good digital citizen!
Learning Objectives
- Understand how the internet works at a basic level
- Learn about web browsers and websites
- Explore the concept of digital citizenship
- Experience simple command-line interactions
- Create your first HTML webpage
Introduction (15 minutes)
Meet the instructor and your fellow explorers!
How the Internet Works (30 minutes)
Discover the fascinating journey of data across the web
Break (10 minutes)
Time to stretch and ask questions
Terminal Basics (25 minutes)
Learn to communicate with computers using text commands
Creating Your First Webpage (30 minutes)
Write HTML code to make a simple webpage
Wrap-up and Preview (10 minutes)
Review what we've learned and preview Session 2
Activities
How the Internet Works
The Internet is Like a Giant Mail System
When you open a website, your computer sends a request across many connected computers called servers. These servers work together to find the right information and send it back to your computer.
This happens in just seconds, even though the information might travel thousands of miles!
Activity: Internet Scavenger Hunt
- Find out what IP address is
- Discover what DNS stands for and what it does
- Find a website that was created before you were born
- Learn what HTTP stands for
- Find out who invented the World Wide Web
Terminal Basics
$ ls
Documents Downloads Pictures Music
$ cd Documents
$ mkdir TechExplorers
$ cd TechExplorers
$ echo "Hello World!" > hello.txt
$ cat hello.txt
Hello World!
$ _
Terminal: Talking Directly to Your Computer
A terminal (or command line) lets you control your computer by typing text commands. It might look old-fashioned, but it's powerful and used by professional programmers every day!
Here are some basic commands:
ls- List files and folderscd- Change directory (move between folders)mkdir- Make a new directory (folder)echo- Print text or save it to a filecat- Display the contents of a file
Activity: Terminal Challenge
Follow these steps to complete the challenge:
- Open Terminal (Mac) or Command Prompt (Windows)
- Navigate to your Documents folder using
cd Documents - Create a folder called "TechExplorers" using
mkdir TechExplorers - Navigate into that folder using
cd TechExplorers - Create a file with a greeting using
echo "Hi, I'm [your name]!" > greeting.txt - View your file using
cat greeting.txt
My First Webpage
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>My First Webpage</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Hello World!</h1>
<p>This is my first webpage.</p>
<ul>
<li>I like technology</li>
<li>I'm learning to code</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>HTML: The Building Blocks of the Web
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the code used to structure webpages. It uses "tags" to define different parts of a page.
Common HTML tags:
<h1>- Main heading<p>- Paragraph<ul>- Unordered list<li>- List item<a>- Link<img>- Image
Activity: Create Your Own Webpage
Follow these steps to create a webpage about yourself:
- Open a text editor (like Notepad or TextEdit)
- Copy the HTML example shown above
- Modify the text to be about you and your interests
- Save the file as "mypage.html"
- Open the file in a web browser to see your page!
Extra Challenge:
Try adding these elements to your page:
- An image using
<img src="url-to-image"> - A link to your favorite website using
<a href="website-url">Link text</a> - Different size headings with
<h2>,<h3>, etc.
Digital Citizenship
Being a Good Digital Citizen
Digital citizenship is about using technology responsibly and respectfully. Just like in the real world, the online world has rules and etiquette that help keep everyone safe and happy.
Key aspects of digital citizenship:
- Protecting your privacy and personal information
- Being kind and respectful online
- Giving credit for others' work (citing sources)
- Balancing screen time with other activities
- Critical thinking about online information
Activity: Digital Citizenship Scenarios
Discuss what you would do in these situations:
Scenario 1: Online Research
You're working on a school project about dinosaurs and find some interesting facts online. How do you use this information in your project?
Scenario 2: Social Media
You see a classmate posting unkind comments about another student online. What should you do?
Scenario 3: Privacy
A game asks for your home address and phone number during sign-up. Should you provide this information?
Scenario 4: Screen Time
You've been playing a fun coding game for two hours, but you have homework to do. How do you manage your time?
Resources
Additional Learning Materials
Digital Citizenship
Resources for being safe online
Internet Basics
How data travels on the internet
HTML Basics
Complete HTML tutorial
Hour of Code
Fun coding activities for beginners
