AWS Data Center Tour 1:
Uncovering Cloud Computing

Students gain exposure to the careers of the future as they discover how careers at Amazon Web Services and Data Centers allow you to stream from anywhere at anytime, as well as store data safely and sustainably.

In this tour, students explore the following careers: Hardware Engineer, Data Center Operations Technician (DCO), Fiber Splicer, Network Engineer

The 45 minute, interactive tour is aligned to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards. The Teacher Toolkit includes a facilitation guide, worksheets, and other resources to support learning during the tour. Recommended for grades 3+.

Uncovering Cloud Computing is aligned to the following CSTA standards.

• 1B-IC-18 Discuss computing technologies that have changed the world, and express how those technologies influence, and are influenced by, cultural practices.
• 1B-CS-01 Describe how internal and external parts of computing devices function to form a system.
• 1B-CS-02 Model how computer hardware and software work together as a system to accomplish tasks.
• 2-CS-02 Design projects that combine hardware and software components to collect and exchange data. Collecting and exchanging data involves input, output, storage, and processing.
• 2-IC-20 Compare tradeoffs associated with computing technologies that affect people’s everyday activities and career options.
• 2-NI-04 Model the role of protocols in transmitting data across networks and the Internet.
• 3A-CS-02 Compare levels of abstraction and interactions between application software, system software, and hardware layers.
• 3A-NI-04 Evaluate the scalability and reliability of networks, by describing the relationship between routers, switches, servers, topology, and addressing.

The tour is aligned to the following Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and science and engineering practices.

• Crosscutting Concept: Cause and Effect Events have causes, sometimes simple, sometimes multifaceted.
• Crosscutting Concept: Systems and System Models A system is an organized group of related objects or components; models can be used for understanding and predicting the behavior of systems.
• Crosscutting Concept: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity In considering phenomena, it is critical to recognize what is relevant at different size, time, and energy scales, and to recognize proportional relationships between different quantities as scales change.
• Crosscutting Concept: Energy and Matter Tracking energy and matter flows, into, out of, and within systems helps one understand their system’s behavior.
• 4-PS3-2 Energy Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.
• 4-PS4-3 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer Generate and compare multiple solutions that use patterns to transfer information.
• MS-PS4-2 Waves and their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer, develop, and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
• MS-PS4-3 Waves and their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer Integrate qualitative scientific and technical information to support the claim that digitized signals are a more reliable way to encode and transmit information than analog signals.
• HS-PS3-3 Energy Design, build, and refine a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy.
• HS-PS4-2 Waves and their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer Evaluate questions about the advantages of using digital transmission and storage of information.
• HS-PS4-5 Waves and their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer Communicate technical information about how some technological devices use the principles of wave behavior and wave interactions with matter to transmit and capture information and energy.
• HS-ETS1-3 Engineering Design Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.

Kahoot!: The fun, game-like tour is available for FREE on Kahoot! to all interested classrooms and families. Students can play each other while learning about cloud computing. No account required.

Discovery Education: Grounded in Discovery Education’s expertise in teaching and learning, Ready-to-Use Activities save educators time with engaging content and instructional strategies to bring STEM careers to life for students.

In this tour, “the cloud” is brought down to earth as your students learn about the hardware, infrastructure, and talented professionals that, together, allow us to stream movies and music, and carry the world in our pockets. Students complete activities to stay engaged throughout the entire experience.