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Computing · Stage 6

How the Internet Really Works

Programs & Judgement · networks — every device has a numbered IP address, DNS turns names into those numbers, and protocols are the shared rules that let computers understand each other

✦ Computing📘 Stage 6 · S6⏱ ~13 min🧒 Ages 10–12★ Free to start
I can explain IP addresses, DNS and protocols.
Start the free lesson →⬇ Printable PDF
Kavi the owl for Computing
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Kavi Posts a Letter to a Number

Kavi typed kavi.academy into the browser and the page popped up in a blink. "But computers don't really understand names," Kavi wondered. "They understand numbers. So how did it find the right one?" It turns out a quiet helper called DNS looked the name up in a giant address book and handed back a number — an IP address like 142.250.72.14. Then Kavi's computer sent its request to that number, and because both sides followed the same set of rules — a protocol — the page came back perfectly. "So a name becomes a number, the number is an address, and the rules are a protocol," hooted Kavi. "Three small ideas run the whole internet!"

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What your child will learn

1Inside an IP addressEvery device on a network has its own IP address — a unique number, like the house number on a street. Here is one: 142.250.72.14. Tap each part to learn how it works.
2How your computer finds a websiteYou type a name, but the computer needs a number. The step that bridges the two is DNS — the Domain Name System. Press ▶ Run and watch the whole journey, in order.
3A name you remember, a number the computer usesIf every site really lives at a number, why do we type names? Compare the two ways and you will see what DNS does for you. Tap each card.
4Protocols you meet every dayA protocol is a set of agreed rules that both computers follow so they understand each other — like two people agreeing to speak the same language. Tap each one to hear what the letters stand for.
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A peek inside

You type kavi.academy into your browser, but computers really talk in numbers. What has to happen before your computer can connect, and what does that lookup system do?
DNS turns the name into the site's IP number

Try this at home: Every device on the internet has its own numbered ____ so data can reach it.

Ready to play and learn?

Start the free interactive lesson, or print the handout for screen-free play.

Start the free lesson →⬇ Download PDF

Part of Computing · Stage 6 · S6 on KAVI Academy — a secular, whole-child learning platform for ages 5–12.