Engineered Memory

Student Worksheet: 

You are a team of computer engineers meeting to determine whether or not to include a floppy disk drive in a new, low cost computer under development to be distributed to schools all over the world.  

 Research/Preparation Phase

1. Review the various Student Reference Sheets, and if possible, visit the website "Compendium of Floppy Disk Guidelines" at www.scitrav.com/labtips/flopdisk.htm.  

 Testing Phase

You have been provided with six floppy disks.

1. Disassemble one disk to explore the inner workings, and compare to the student resource sheet.  Most disks can be taken apart without any tools, but ask your teacher for help if you need it!  

2. On the remaining five disks, create or copy both a word processing document and a graphic file or photo onto each.  Label each, and double check to confirm the files were saved properly on each. 

3.  As a team, make predictions in the table below about what you think will happen to the data on each disk when exposed to different situations.  Note: You may want to come up with your own tests, but be sure to have your teacher approve first.

	Disk 1	Disk 2	Disk 3	Disk 4	Disk 5	
Environment Change	Place disk in freezer overnight	Place disk in refrigerator overnight	Rub low strength magnet on disk	Rub medium strength magnet on disk	Rub high strength magnet on disk	
Prediction 1:
Will the data be lost? Why?
						
Prediction 2:
Will the data be changed in any way? How?
						
Prediction 3:
Will you be able to reformat the disk or use it again?
						
      Engineered Memory

Student Worksheet: (continued)
 
4. Now, execute the tests on the disks, and record your results below. Note: Put the disks for the freezer or refrigerator in plastic bags to keep out moisture.  Be sure to let the disk return to room temperature before inserting into your computer.

	Disk 1	Disk 2	Disk 3	Disk 4	Disk 5	
Environment Change	Place disk in freezer overnight	Place disk in refrigerator overnight	Rub low strength magnet on disk	Rub medium strength magnet on disk	Rub high strength magnet on disk	
Result 1:
Was the data lost? 						
Result 2:
Was the data changed in any way? How?						
Result 3:
Were you able to reformat the disk or use it again?						

 Team Reflection: Why do you think you found these results?  Why would certain conditions affect storage devices while others do not?

 Team Analysis and Recommendations

Next, your "computer engineering" team must consider what you learned through your testing, and also consider your company's "research, and then come to a recommendation as to whether or not a floppy disk drive should be included as a component in a new, low cost, computer system your company is about to manufacture for schools worldwide. The facts on the next sheet have been provided by your company's marketing research department, some of the mechanical engineers working on the project, and the accounting group which will determine the cost of the new product. Remember that your new computer is to be a low cost solution for schools all over the world, and potential users are children and students in both remote areas and cities, in both affluent and poorer communities.
      Engineered Memory

Student Worksheet: (continued)

 Research Report

1.  The computer must be useful for students and teachers all over the world.
2.  Floppy Disks can cost less than 40 cents each, and hold about 1.44 MB of data.
3.  USB Drives cost more than floppy disks; for example a 1GB drive might cost $10.
4.  It might cost about $7 to include a floppy disk drive in each computer.
5.  The new computer will have 3 USB ports.
6.  Two recent research reports are summarized below:
Magnetic Media Information Services: "In many parts of the world such as Latin America, China, and India, the floppy disk remains a widely-used recording medium, according to Magnetic Media Information Services. For some companies, the production of floppy disks is still a sizable and profitable business. Imation, the world's largest producer, accounts for one-third of the world's total floppy production and claims to produce about two million floppy disks a day, both for itself and for other companies still active in selling diskettes."  According to Yaser Shan, marketing manager, Imation Middle East and Africa, "Floppies are a very easy backup. You can easily store data, you can give it anybody and it doesn’t need any security. There are many advantages like they are easy to use, cheap, affordable, and the installed base is very huge. Probably if you give data on floppy to somebody, they will definitely have a floppy drive but if you give it on a CD they may or may not have a CDROM. And in the Middle East market, they are still moving to CDs but also use loads and loads of diskettes."

Japan Recording Media Industries Association: "These days, most PC users seldom if ever use a floppy disk for storage or other purposes. It may surprise the reader that the JRIA believes that demand for diskettes in 2006 will still reach 776 million units. Except for the Japanese market, where the diskette is almost completely forgotten, demand in Europe, North America, and the rest of the world, is expected to be almost equal in 2006, nominally 235 million units for each region. However, by 2009, demand will have declined 56 percent to 336 million diskettes, still distributed almost equally in North America, Europe, and countries in the rest of the world." 

 Planning as a Team

Make a decision about your computer, and list the three main factors that led to your team decision in the box below.  Present your decision to other student teams.

1.

2.

3.

      Engineered Memory

Student Worksheet: Reflection

1. What percentage of the teams in your class decided to incorporate the floppy disk drive in the new computer?  Did this surprise you?

2. What did you learn about the re-engineering process through this lesson?

3. What product do you think you'd like to re-engineer?  Why?  What would you do to change or improve it?

4. What ethical considerations do you think should be discussed when re-engineering a product?  What rights or compensation do you think the designer of an original product should retain when a new engineering team re-engineers the original product?

5. Were you surprised that engineers might be working in a team with other engineers (such as mechanical engineers and computer engineers working together)?  

6.  What types of engineers do you think might work on an artificial knee?  What other professionals do you think might be involved?

      Engineered Memory

Student Activity: Punch Card Coding

 Planning
Working as a team of 2-3 students develop a coding system using punches on index cards that can communicate a sentence to another team of students. You'll need to develop a code of punching that represents the numbers and letters and punctuation you choose for your sentence.  Write out your plans for your punch code in the box below.

	

 Punch!
Next punch your coded sentence onto index cards and provide both your code and your cards to another team to read.

(Hint, make sure to number your cards so that if they get mixed up you can reassemble your deck in the correct order.)

 Reflection:

1.  Did you find it was easy to come up with a coding system that would efficiently send your message?

2. Was the other team able to read your code?

3. List three drawbacks you can think of to using the punch card system in data processing today: