For educators
Material for a teacher, tutor or careers adviser to use with a class. It needs no account and no sign-up, and you can copy, print and share it. All we ask is that you keep a link to the source.
Download the lesson (text file)Download the programme list (CSV)Or use your browser's print command on this page.
A 45 minute introduction to work on computer chips
Almost every electronic product depends on chips that someone designed, built and tested. This lesson introduces four kinds of work behind a chip: design, manufacturing, testing and quality, and research. Students read one pathway page, answer the discussion questions in small groups and finish by naming one next step they could take.
- Warm up (5 minutes). Ask students to list five things in the room that contain a chip.
- Read (10 minutes). Each group takes one pathway page and reads the sections on what the work is, what a day is like and how people get there.
- Discuss (15 minutes). Each group works through the discussion questions for its pathway.
- Share (10 minutes). Groups report one thing that surprised them and one thing the page did not tell them. Each page has a section that says what it leaves out, which is a useful prompt.
- Next step (5 minutes). Each student picks one programme or competition from the list and notes what it would involve.
Discussion questions by pathway
Chip Design
Drawing the plan for a computer chip before it is ever built.
- Why is a mistake in a chip design more expensive to fix than a mistake in a school essay?
- The page compares a chip to a tiny city of switches. Where does that comparison help and where does it break down?
- Which skills listed on the page do you already use, and which would you need to build?
- What would you want to check before trusting a design that only exists as a simulation?
Chip Manufacturing
Building the chip, in a factory cleaner than a hospital operating room.
- Why would a single speck of dust matter in a chip factory when it would not matter in a classroom?
- Some manufacturing roles need a degree and others need technical training. What are the trade-offs between those routes?
- Chip factories often run around the clock. What kinds of work suit a team that has to hand over between shifts?
- Which would you rather be responsible for: running a machine, or finding out why a step went wrong? Give a reason.
Testing & Quality
Making sure every chip works before it ships.
- How is testing a chip like detective work? What counts as evidence?
- If one chip in a thousand fails, how would you decide whether that is a problem with the chip or with the process?
- Why does it help to write down what went wrong, even when the fix is obvious?
- What can careful, methodical work achieve that fast work cannot?
Research
Inventing the next kind of chip, years before it reaches a factory.
- Why is an experiment that does not work still useful to report?
- The page says research looks years ahead of a factory. What are the risks of working on something that may never ship?
- Which question about chips would you most like to see answered, and how could you start to find out?
- The page notes that many research roles want a graduate degree. How would you find out what a route there looks like where you live?
Programmes and competitions
From our register of programmes run by other organisations, limited to ones for school students and outreach. We do not run them, are not paid to list them, and cannot vouch for their current dates, so check each one before you plan around it.
Programmes
| Name | Run by | Cost | Format | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IEEE TryEngineering ↗ (https://tryengineering.org) | IEEE | Free | Online | Global / online |
Competitions
No competitions are listed yet.
What this material does not cover: the list is short, it is not filtered by age band or country, and it does not replace your own curriculum.