Egypt Primary 5 Communication Technology, Week 9: Back-up: a second copy of what matters

Photos, privacy and back-ups

Week 9 · Theme 2 Digital Safety and Security Precautions, Lessons 1–2 Explorer in Action; Protecting Ourselves and Our Information · 3 lessons

Back-up: a second copy of what matters

ICT P5 Term 1, Theme 2: pp. 44–53

GoalExplain why we back up files and compare three ways to do it.

New words

back-up · an extra copy of a file kept in another placevirus · a harmful program that can damage filesautomatic back-up · a back-up the device makes by itselfhybrid back-up · using more than one back-up way together

Explanation

Imagine your best drawing is on only one sheet of paper, and a glass of water spills on it. It is lost. Files can be lost too: a virus can damage them, a bug can erase them and an accident can break a device. A back-up is a second copy in another place, like keeping a photocopy at your aunt’s house. There are three ways to back up. Automatic: the device copies your files by itself on a schedule. Manual: you copy files to a flash memory or an external drive. Hybrid: you use both, which is the safest. Photographers back up every day on two drives. Back up the most important things first: school work, family photos, and things you cannot make again.

Way	How	Good point
automatic	device copies by itself	you cannot forget
flash or external drive	you copy the files	copy stays in your hands
hybrid (both)	automatic + drive	safest

Worked examples

Seif’s computer breaks, but his homework is also on a flash memory. He opens it on his father’s computer and nothing is lost. Back-ups saved the work.

Mariam ranks what to back up first: 1 school project, 2 family photos from the holiday, 3 game levels. A project cannot be redone quickly, while game levels can be played again.

Nour’s family uses a hybrid back-up. Photos copy automatically each night, and once a month her mother also copies them to an external drive kept in a drawer.

Class activity

Photo trip. Imagine a class trip to take photos of a garden. On paper, write three technology problems that could happen (battery dies, memory full, camera dropped). Next to each, write what you would do. Then rank four things to back up (the best photos, funny photos, a school certificate scan, an old file you do not need) from most to least important.

Practice

What is a back-up?

Name two ways files can be lost.

What is a hybrid back-up?

Which should you back up first: a school project or a funny meme you saved? Why?