KS3 Inside the CPU: Year 9 Computing Unit (3 Lessons)

A three-lesson bridge into Key Stage 4: how instructions are stored and executed, and how code becomes something a CPU can run.

3 complete 55-minute lessons for Year 9, ready to teach.

The lessons

1. Von Neumann architecture and the fetch, decode, execute cycle.
2. Performance: clock speed, cores and cache.
3. Compilers, interpreters, the operating system, and a first look at the GCSE course (assessed quiz).

What is included for every lesson

• A PowerPoint deck of 26 to 33 slides with speaker notes on every slide and click animations for reveals
• A 55-minute lesson plan with timings
• A printable worksheet
• An answer sheet

How it is taught

• A Do Now at the start of every lesson, to bring back earlier learning
• Hinge questions to check understanding before pupils move on
• Worked examples (I do, we do, you do), then pupil practice
• Unplugged games and mini-whiteboard activities. Each lesson mixes unplugged activities with hands-on work.
• Real photos and clear diagrams, with the photo credit on each deck
• A short exit ticket and a summary slide

Lesson 3 ends with an assessed short-answer quiz on the cycle and on performance.

Slides are editable PowerPoint (.pptx). Each lesson plan fills a full 55-minute lesson, minute by minute.

British English throughout. Part of a complete KS3 Computer Science course for Years 7 to 9.