The wifi that keeps dropping
Teachers say: "The wifi is bad." That is one big problem and it is hard to fix.
Is it the laptop? The wireless box on the wall? The cable behind it? The internet line into the school? A good technician does not guess. They split the problem into parts and test each part.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can break a support problem into smaller parts and show it in a diagram.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Decomposition | Breaking a problem into smaller parts | |
| Feature | One main thing about a problem | the wifi box |
| Characterise | Describe a feature: what it is and what it does | |
| Block diagram | Boxes that show the parts of a system | |
| Information flow diagram | A picture that shows how information moves between parts | |
| Flowchart | A picture of steps and choices, joined by arrows |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Starter
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Starter
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Decomposition makes a problem manageable
The purpose of decomposition is to turn one big problem into small ones. A small problem is easier to understand, test and fix.
It also lets a team share the work. One person checks the cable. Another checks the wireless box.
The four tasks of decomposition
| Task | What you do | Example: wifi drops |
|---|---|---|
| Identify the main features | List the big things in the problem | Laptop, wireless box, cable, internet line |
| Characterise each feature | Say what each one is and does | The wireless box sends the signal to laptops |
| Break the problem down | Split the fault into smaller faults | Signal weak, cable loose, line down |
| Break the solution down | Split the fix into smaller jobs | Check cable, restart box, test line |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check
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Check
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.