Week 3 Schedule and Activities
In Week 3, you will:
- Trace the history of operating systems from early batch processing through
modern multitasking — and discover surprising connections to today's
cloud computing era.
- Explore the architecture of a modern OS: the components of the kernel, the
role of the user interface, and what happens when you press the power button.
- Understand how the OS manages processes and coordinates competition among
them for shared resources — including the concepts of semaphores,
critical regions, and deadlock.
- Examine how the OS and CPU work together to enforce security through
accounts, privilege levels, and hardware-enforced memory protection.
- Connect these ideas to what K-12 students might encounter in your
classroom, and to broader questions about who bears responsibility when
computing systems fail.
The schedule below is a suggested pacing guide. Feel free to adjust based on
your own calendar, but try to keep the order of activities so later pieces
build on earlier ones.
Computer Science Content
(Monday - Wednesday)
Work through the Week 3 learning materials in order. These are designed
to build your understanding of the core CS concept for the week:
operating systems.
-
Topic 3a - Operating System Fundamentals
Trace the history of operating systems from batch processing to
multitasking, explore the architecture of a modern OS kernel, and
discover how the boot process connects the hardware of Week 2 to the
software of Week 3.
-
Topic 3b - Coordinating Activities and Shared Resources
Understand what a process is and how it differs from a program, follow
the lifecycle of a process through the scheduler and dispatcher, and
explore what happens when processes compete for resources they cannot
share — including the conditions that produce deadlock.
-
Topic 3c - Operating System Security
Examine how the OS controls access through accounts and login, why
passwords and multi-factor authentication matter, and how privilege
levels and hardware memory enforcement keep processes from exceeding
their permitted boundaries.
Beyond the Content
(Thursday - Friday)
-
Social and Ethical Considerations
Examine four scenarios that connect OS concepts to real-world
consequences: CS literacy across society, a research ethics controversy
in the Linux community, liability for OS security flaws, and the
Boeing 737 MAX crashes as a case study in automated systems and
human override.
-
Teaching and Learning Perspectives
Reflect on how OS concepts translate to your classroom, what students
at your grade level can meaningfully engage with, and what
misconceptions to expect.
Small Group Discussion
(Thursday - Friday)
You will meet with your small group to make sense of the week and to
prepare for the Competency Demo.
Week 3 Small Group Discussion Instructions
Competency Demo
(Thursday - Sunday)
Competency Demo #3 - Operating Systems
- Complete all Week 3 activities before attempting the Competency Demo.
- The CD addresses Competencies 7, 8, and 9. Review those learning objectives before you begin.
- Closed book, closed notes, closed resources.