Lesson Plan

Resources → Subject Notes → Computer Science → Notes
Lesson Plan
Grade: Date: 17/01/2026
Subject: Computer Science
Lesson Topic: Show understanding of how factors contribute to the performance of the computer system
Learning Objective/s:
  • Describe the main components of a CPU and their roles.
  • Explain the fetch‑decode‑execute cycle and its significance.
  • Apply the CPU performance equation to calculate execution time.
  • Analyse how clock speed, CPI, instruction count, cache, pipelining and parallelism affect overall system performance.
  • Evaluate simple optimisation scenarios using performance calculations.
Materials Needed:
  • Projector or interactive whiteboard
  • Slides with CPU block diagram
  • Handout summarising the performance equation and factor table
  • Calculator or spreadsheet software
  • Sample program data sheet for example calculation
  • Whiteboard and markers
 Introduction:
Begin with a quick poll: which computer tasks feel slow and why? Review prior knowledge of CPU basics, then state today’s success criteria – students will identify performance factors, use the performance equation, and predict the impact of simple optimisations.
Lesson Structure:
  1. Do‑Now (5') – Students list common performance complaints on sticky notes and share briefly.
  2. Mini‑lecture (10') – Review CPU components and the fetch‑decode‑execute cycle using a diagram.
  3. Guided practice (12') – Walk through the performance equation with a sample calculation; pairs compute the result.
  4. Exploration activity (15') – Groups analyse a factor table, discuss each factor’s effect on CPI or clock speed, and suggest mitigation techniques.
  5. Application exercise (10') – Given a new scenario, students recalculate CPU time after a cache optimisation and justify the speed‑up.
  6. Check for understanding (5') – Quick quiz/exit ticket with three questions on factors and the performance equation.
  7. Wrap‑up (3') – Summarise key points and link back to the lesson objectives.
Conclusion:
Recap the main factors that drive CPU performance and how the performance equation ties them together. For the exit ticket, ask students to write one optimisation they could apply to improve a program’s speed. Homework: complete a worksheet calculating performance for a different set of parameters.