Lesson Plan

• Describe how sampling rate influences audio quality, file size and transmission bandwidth.
• Explain how resolution and colour depth affect video/image detail and data requirements.
• Analyse the trade‑offs between higher quality and resource constraints for both audio and video.
• Apply formulas to estimate file sizes for given sampling rates or resolutions.

• Projector and screen
• Computer with audio/video editing software
• Sample audio files (8 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 96 kHz)
• Sample video clips (VGA, HD, Full HD, 4K)
• Handout with tables of typical rates and resolutions
• Calculators and worksheet for calculations

Play a low‑quality telephone audio clip followed by a CD‑quality music clip and ask students what differences they hear. Review that they already know basic binary storage concepts. State that by the end of the lesson they will be able to predict how changing sampling rate or resolution impacts quality, file size and bandwidth.

1. Do‑Now (5'): Quick quiz on definitions of sampling rate, resolution and colour depth.
2. Mini‑lecture (10'): Explain sampling rate, Nyquist theorem, and show typical audio rates table.
3. Guided calculation (10'): Use the audio file size formula to compute size of a 3‑minute track at different rates.
4. Video resolution demo (10'): Play video clips of increasing resolution; discuss visual detail and data rates.
5. Group activity (15'): Teams compare scenarios (e.g., streaming music vs video) and decide optimal settings, recording reasoning on worksheet.
6. Check for understanding (5'): Exit‑ticket – “If you need to stream a 10‑second 1080p video over a 3 Mbps link, what compromise would you make and why?”

Summarise that higher sampling rates improve audio fidelity but increase storage and bandwidth linearly, while higher resolution boosts visual detail but grows data size quadratically. Collect exit‑tickets and remind students to complete a homework task researching optimal audio/video settings for a mobile‑gaming app.