---
title: What Is a Computer?
units: [Problem Solving and Computing]
summary: Computers solve information problems.
weight: 40
---

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## Today's Objectives
- Choose problems that can be solved with computing and justify those choices.
- Identify a computer as a machine that works with information.
- Reason about whether particular objects are or are not computers.

## Lesson Overview
### What is a computer?
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{{< video title="What is a Computer?" src="/videos/what-is-a-computer.mp4" poster="/images/video-poster-what-is-a-computer.jpg" >}}

## Assignment
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### Computer or Not a Computer
Create a two-column table to categorize items.

| Computer | Not a Computer |
|----------|--------------|
| _        | _            |

Categorize the following items:

- Laptop
- iPhone
- Headphones
- iPad
- Printer
- Rotary Phone
- Abacus
- Landline Phone
- Dishwasher
- Flash Drive
- Traffic Light
- Car
- Piano
- Vacuum Cleaner
- DVD Player
- Satellite Dish
- Radio
- TV Remote

Use the following questions to guide you:

- What types of problems is this device used to solve?
- Does the device use information to solve problems?
- Where does it get the information?
- How does it use the information to solve problems?

In each category, write a list of characteristics or rules that you used to define those items.