Representation of numbers
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Why this why now
Understanding how data is represented and compressed helps pupils appreciate the invisible processes that make digital communication and storage possible. This unit strengthens logical thinking and numeracy while revealing how efficiency, accuracy and structure are central to all digital systems. Learning this now deepens pupils’ awareness of the design decisions that shape the technology they use every day.
Prior knowledge requirements
- Pupils should recognise that data and instructions in a computer are represented in binary.
- Pupils will be able to identify the place values of 8-bit binary numbers.
- Pupils will be able to convert between binary and decimal values.
Threads
Why this why now
Understanding how data is represented and compressed helps pupils appreciate the invisible processes that make digital communication and storage possible. This unit strengthens logical thinking and numeracy while revealing how efficiency, accuracy and structure are central to all digital systems. Learning this now deepens pupils’ awareness of the design decisions that shape the technology they use every day.
Prior knowledge requirements
- Pupils should recognise that data and instructions in a computer are represented in binary.
- Pupils will be able to identify the place values of 8-bit binary numbers.
- Pupils will be able to convert between binary and decimal values.
Representation of numbers
In this unit pupils will be reminded of how the base-10 number system works before being introduced to the base-2 number system. They will perform conversions between binary and decimal and recognise the rules of binary addition and subtraction. They will be introduced to hexadecimal and its uses.
6 lessons in unit
slide decks, worksheet PDFs, quizzes and lesson overviews. You can select individual lessons from the Representation of numbers unit and download the resources you need, or download the entire unit now. See every unit listed in our AQA secondary computer science curriculum and discover more of our teaching resources for AQA secondary computer science programmes.