B4 Computer Processor Kit
The B4 is a modular computer processor kit and accompanying study guide. It has been designed to help students explore the fundamental operation of computers as part of the new Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies. The B4 supports the teaching of the knowledge and understanding of digital systems and the representation of data.
The Kit consists of 11 computing modules that represent core functions of a computer processor, such as program counter, adder, inverter, memory, latch, etc. With these, students perform experiments which lead to increasingly sophisticated hardware and software arrangements. The B4 operates at human speed, allowing students to easily follow with their own eyes how data flows inside the machine.
The B4 Computer Processor Kit has two separate extension kits:
The B4 comes with comprehensive lesson plans to guide teachers and students. Through a series of 14 lessons, students experiment and learn about the binary system, Boolean logic, and how, fundamentally, a computer adds, subtracts, stores, and retrieves data. The B4’s approach is programming language independent and therefore prepares students for any higher-level programming language they choose to learn later.