Lesson Plan

• Describe the roles of hardware, firmware, and the operating system in supporting application software.
• Explain the boot‑process sequence from power‑on to application launch.
• Analyse how the OS abstracts hardware resources for applications.
• Evaluate the interdependence of the four layers when troubleshooting issues.

• Projector or interactive whiteboard
• Slides showing the layered diagram
• Printed handout of the stack diagram
• Sample boot‑process flowchart (paper or digital)
• Laptop with BIOS/UEFI demo video
• Whiteboard and markers

Begin with a quick poll: Who has turned on a computer today? Review that a computer needs more than just hardware to run programs. Explain that today’s success criteria are to identify each layer—hardware, firmware, OS, and applications—and to trace how they work together during boot.

1. Do‑Now (5') – Students list components they think are needed to run a program; share responses.
2. Mini‑lecture (10') – Present definitions and layered diagram via slides.
3. Interactive diagram activity (10') – In pairs, label a printed stack diagram and discuss each layer’s purpose.
4. Boot process demonstration (10') – Show a BIOS/UEFI video and walk through the six boot steps, pausing for quick checks.
5. Application example (10') – Walk through a word‑processor scenario, mapping OS services to actions.
6. Formative check (5') – Quick quiz (Kahoot or exit ticket) on layer functions and sequence.

Recap that hardware provides the physical platform, firmware prepares it, the OS manages resources, and applications rely on those services. Ask students to write one real‑world example of a problem that could arise at each layer as an exit ticket. For homework, have them create a simple flowchart showing the boot sequence for a device of their choice.