Punched card

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/punched-card

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is Punched card known for?Established foundational principles for data representation, programmability, and automated computation
2. What is the dominant era?Mid-19th century through the 1970s, with significant decline thereafter
3. What were punched cards used for?Punched cards let people put instructions and data onto paper so machines could read them. They were the main way early computers learned what to do.
4. How did a punched card show a 1 or 0?A hole in a card meant a 1, and no hole meant a 0. This was how the card stored binary information.

Programmable Control: The ability of a machine to execute a sequence of operations dictated by external instructions.
Tabulating Machine: An electromechanical device that processes data stored on punched cards, often for statistical purposes.
Algorithm: A step-by-step procedure or set of rules for solving a problem or performing a computation.
Data Density: The amount of information that can be stored in a given physical space or medium.