GoalSay what a network is, from a family to a home network, and what the internet and a gateway are.
New words
network · a group of people or things linked together for a shared purposelocal area network (LAN) · a small network in one place, like a home or a schoolgateway (router) · the box that joins your network to the internetinternet service provider (ISP) · a company that sells an internet connection
Explanation
A network is a group of people or things that are linked for a shared purpose. A family is a network: its members help each other. A football team is a network: the players pass the ball to each other to score. A school is a network of pupils, teachers and rooms. A computer network works the same way. Computers, printers and phones are linked so they can share files, a printer and a connection. At home, a computer, a printer and a router make a small network in one place, called a local area network, or LAN. The internet is a very big network made of many networks. Your home network reaches it through a gateway, the router, which is joined to an internet service provider, the company that sells the connection.
Worked examples
Think of Marwan’s football team. Each player is linked to the others by passes. The shared purpose is to win. That is a network of people.
At Salma’s home, the printer is not near her laptop, but both are in the home network. She sends her drawing to the printer from the next room.
The router at Omar’s home is joined to the company that sells the connection. Through it, every device at home can reach the internet at the same time.
Class activity
Draw your network. Draw yourself in the middle of a page. Around you draw your family or your class. Link each person to you with a line and write what you share with that person (a game, a meal, homework). Then draw a small home network with a router, a computer and a printer. How is the first network like the second?
Practice
1
What is a network?
A group of people or things linked for a shared purpose.
2
What does LAN stand for, and where is one?
Local area network: a small network in one place, such as a home or a school.
3
What does the gateway at home do?
It joins the home network to the internet through the provider.
4
Which of these is a network of people: a family, a pencil, a stone? Say which.
