Lesson Plan
Functions of an operating
system
Teacher’s Notes
Length 60 mins Specifi cation Link 213/a
Learning objective
Candidates should be able to:
(a) explain the need for the following functions of an operating system: user interface,
memory management, peripheral management, multitasking and security
Time (min) Activity Further Notes
10 Explain to the students that there are many processes
and activities occurring in a computer at any one time,
e.g. fi les may be being printed, deleted or saved, data
may be being accessed from or saved to the hard disk
drive. All of these need to be managed and coordinated,
and this is the function of the operating system.
Using a projector, display the Interactive Starter
Activity as an introduction to the functions of an
operating system.
10 Watch the video, pausing to discuss the content.
5 Discuss the video to assess learning. Ask questions
such as:
• What is an operating system?
• List some of the functions of an operating system.
• What is meant by a multitasking operating system?
Answers:
A suite of programs that manage the
software and hardware on a computer
and coordinate all of its activities.
Examples:
Handles requests from the applications
software.
Manages the use of internal memory.
Handles input and output from the
peripheral devices.
Responsible for security, e.g. use of
passwords.
It allows several programs to be running
on a computer at any one time. It decides
the order in which they can have access
to the CPU and how much time each one
is allowed.
15 Worksheet 1
Students to complete Worksheet 1 either on paper or
on computer. They may need access to the Internet to
research some of the questions.
Ask individual students for their answers and discuss
with the class so that all students will have the correct
answers.
Answers provided.
Ask students with the correct responses
to explain to the class how they arrived at
their answers.
10 The students use Interactive Activity 1.
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