System Administrator's Day & Networks

[Ruthierhyme]

System Administrator's day - July 31st 2009
It’s held annually on the last Friday of each July !

A great opportunity to say 'Thanks instead of 'arghh why doesn't this work ' to your system admin.

The official website is an absolutely fab read and will give anyone on both ends of the stick a good chuckle

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To celebrate this day & build a week’s mini topic (or more) around it, here are a few ideas to help involve the children & to enjoy the basic elements of 'networks'

The 2008 EYFS Six areas of Learning including ELGS and other information
Click Titles for summaries of ELGS ~ Early Learning Goals

PSED
Personal Social & Emotional Development
Who are system administrators and what do they do?
System Administrators are people that look after networks of computers.
More likely to be seen in schools and colleges, companies and businesses
Although a library will have a room of networked pcs that will need technical help to fix and monitor problems. Online access and website servicing for customers, clients & suppliers!
School’s may have ICT suites, possibly whiteboards and other hardware systems that need maintenance.
Local swimming pools / leisure centres will have computers that need to 'talk to each other to ensure the building runs smoothly and everyone knows what's happening, who's where and whats going on !

Can the children think where else they've seen more than one PC ?

Other named people are Technicians and Engineers whilst they deal with PC systems as well they also cover a wider variety of electrical & mechanical items..

What is ‘Network’
Anything that needs to connect to something else in order to make something happen is a network.
To make sure that networks work it needs to be constantly checked, tested, watched, monitored and maintained.

If you have any type of network that involves 'travelling information' someone somewhere will be looking after it as the information that people send .. needs to be able to get where it's going !!


CLL
Communication, language and Literacy
Create some scenarios that engage the children is active communication ..
Ring them up and ask for them to:
· Fix your broken telephones
· The washing machine has flooded the floor .. help
· A mobile phone has been lost !! .. how do you find where it is ?

MD ~ PSRN
Mathematical Development - Problem Solving, Reasoning & Numeracy

Build a network of Cogs.
Cogs - Gears Gears gears are an excellent tool system to demonstrate 'Networks' .. talk to the children about how each individual cog needs the next one to work properly and how those two need the next one in order for them to turn properly !
To extend this into a KNUW learning activity based on ‘life networks ‘or indeed to make an additional theme of its own, cut out some Network pictures and sticky tac them to the cogs!

EG. Milk

A field
A Cow
A Farmer
Machinery
The Distibution - lorries, vans, own store
The shops
The customers

For older children you can take this a stage further and introduce 'external networks.
ASK: 'What happens or what would you do if something happened to one section of the network ?

If the field was sprayed with something that is harmful to the cows ?
If a cow becomes poorly ?
If the farmer has to go away for a couple of days?
If the machinery breaks down?
If the distribution doesn't turn up !
The shops increase or decrease sales levels ~ or they don't pay the farmer for the milk ?
The customers find something wrong with the milk ?

This is a huge activity to consider introducing to the children mainly because of the sheer scope of information and consideration of so many additional networks!
Research what you want to do before hand & be prepared for unexpected questions know where you want to stop the learning by not giving an ad hoc answer that you're not sure of .. if it's important say you'll find out for them and tell them the next time you're together!

KNUW
Knowledge and Understanding of the World
What toys do the children have at home that need maintenance ?
As a table top activity get together a selection of toys that need 'fixing.
· 2 or 3 toys that need their batteries replacing - if possible show toys that need AA, AAA, C and rechargeable batteries.
· Remote control toys that need two separate components/items to work !

PD
Physical Development
Run around game that involves store departments !!

The Game
The children are all system administrators and work in a company with lots of computers and problems that need sorting out ...
Have a pre made set of coloured cards that you can hold up to the children.
The Blue Room- The Red Room, yellow and green (or other colours !)
And corresponding coloured floor mats

Introduce familiar tool words to learn what each one does.
Spanner
Wire cutters
Plug
Switch
Screwdriver

To Play
Spread the floor mats around so that the children need to run to them.
Hold up the coloured room card as you read out the technical problem.
Allow time for the children to run to the correct floor mat before continuing with the problem.

What tool will they need to fix things or do they have another idea ~ let them act out fixing the problem before sending them onto the next room !

Technical Problems !
Please add your own experiences of problems & what you've had to do to solve them !

The RED Room ... (pause for children to run to red floor mat)
· Can’t get a cover off of a battery compartment - It has a screw holding it in place .... what tool do we need to fix the problem?
The Blue Room:
· Has a computer that won't turn on .. The plug has broken what shall we do ..
The Yellow Room:
· Has a large box that needs moving but a big bolt in the floor is holding it in place.
The Green Room
· Has are too many wires and cables over the floor – can anyone suggest how to help tidy them up ?

CD
Creative Development

Role Play
A technicians tool kit ..

Cookery
Basic and simple recipes are ones as close to the original network process as possible
Rather then Computer assistance this looks at using ingredients, techniques & man power that requires minimal external services …

Pancakes (minus the eggs ) and jam

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder - What baking powder is from howstuffworks.
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoon butter

Music
Visualising information that travels.
Use music to visualise the information that travels between receiving points of a network.
Guitars and stringed instruments that involve 'information travelling up and down the lines - make your own by wrapping elastic bands around empty boxes - twang the bands and watch the 'information travel !
The vibrations and movement of the strings denote feelings as well ..

If you're cross about your technical problem and you ring your system admin .. he'll feel it !!!!

Arts & Crafts
Recycled Guitar project as for above.


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Networks are a way of life, they can be reliable and not so ~ flexible and immovable .. If you depend on them for your own living, take backups and create alternative routes for recovery because the one thing they all have in common is that if they go unwatched, unmonitored and uncared for .. something, somewhere will break down eventually !


Happy Systems Admin Day ..