Children, nowadays it is difficult to imagine life without the Internet.

We use it almost every day. We watch videos on YouTube, send messages through WhatsApp, search for information online, play games, or make video calls with our family and friends.

However, we often don't realize how valuable the Internet is. I think we truly appreciate its importance only when it suddenly stops working.

Sometimes the electricity goes out or our Internet connection is temporarily interrupted at home. Whenever that happens, my daughters always ask me the same question:

"Mom, is the Internet not working?"

Perhaps you have asked the same question before.

But what exactly does the word Internet mean? Let's explore it together.

🌍 What Is the Internet?

The Internet is the world's largest network that connects computers, smartphones, tablets, and many other digital devices located in different countries around the world.

Simply put, the Internet helps devices communicate with one another and exchange information.

For example, you can send a photo to your friend through WhatsApp.

When you watch a video on YouTube, the video you requested is delivered to your phone through the Internet.

When we ask ChatGPT a question, our question travels through the Internet, and the answer returns to us the same way. The Internet's main purpose is to connect devices around the world and deliver information between them.

But the Internet is not just one computer. It is an enormous network that connects billions of devices spread across almost every country in the world. To better understand just how large the Internet is, let's look at a simple example.

🏠 From One Street to the Whole World

Imagine there are five houses on your street, and each house has one computer. If all of those computers are connected to one another, they form a small network.

Now imagine that similar networks exist in every school, university, office, and home. Then those networks connect to others throughout cities, and eventually to networks in almost every country around the world.

That enormous worldwide network of connected devices is what we call the Internet.

🌍 Who Owns the Internet?

Perhaps you have wondered, just as I once did, "Who owns the Internet?" Some people think Google created the Internet. Others believe it belongs to Microsoft. In reality, neither is true.

The Internet does not have a single owner. It operates through the combined efforts of Internet service providers, universities, governments, technology companies, and many other organizations around the world. Each organization manages its own part of the network while connecting it to countless other networks.

That is why we can say the Internet is one of the greatest examples of global cooperation.

🌐 Are the Internet and the Web the Same Thing?

Many people use these two words as if they mean exactly the same thing.

However, they are actually different.

The Internet is the global network that connects devices around the world.

The Web (World Wide Web) is the collection of websites that exists on top of the Internet.

Let's compare this to roads. Roads allow people to travel from one place to another. Along those roads, you may find houses, schools, libraries, and shops. In the same way, the Internet is like a huge system of roads that carries information from place to place.

The Internet is the network. The Web is the world of websites that exists on that network.

Now, children, let's think about another interesting question.

How does a YouTube video or a WhatsApp message reach us in just a few seconds?

Imagine you send a large photo to your friend using WhatsApp.

Or suppose you are watching a ten-minute video on YouTube.

How does that information travel from one phone to another, or from a computer on the other side of the world all the way to your device?

You might think that the entire photo or the whole video travels all at once.

But in reality, that is not how the Internet works.

The Internet sends large pieces of information by dividing them into many small pieces.

Let's discover why it does this by using a simple example.

🧩 Pieces of a Puzzle

Imagine you have a large puzzle made up of one thousand pieces.

If someone wanted to send you that puzzle as a gift, it would be very inconvenient to send it as one huge assembled board.

Instead, it would be much easier to place all the puzzle pieces into a box and send them that way.

After opening the box, you would put all the pieces back together to recreate the complete picture.

The Internet works in a very similar way.

It divides large amounts of information into many small pieces before sending them.

When those pieces reach their destination, they are put back together again.

These small pieces of information are called data packets.

🚚 Why Does the Internet Split Information into Packets?

You might now be wondering:

"Why doesn't the Internet just send everything at once?"

There are several good reasons for this.

• ⚡ Small pieces can be sent much more quickly.
• 🚦 If one route on the Internet is busy, packets can travel along different routes.
• 🛠️ If one packet is lost along the way, only that small packet needs to be sent again instead of the entire video or file.

Because of this method, the Internet is fast, reliable, and efficient.

In other words, the Internet breaks large amounts of information into small data packets before sending them. Once all of the packets arrive at their destination, they are reassembled into the original information.

🎬 How Does a YouTube Video Reach Your Phone?

When you watch a video on YouTube, the entire video does not arrive on your phone all at once.

Instead, it is divided into thousands of small data packets.

Your phone receives those packets incredibly quickly and immediately puts them back together.

That is why we see a smooth, continuous video playing on our screen.

This process happens so fast that we hardly notice it.

Although it feels like we are watching one complete video, our device is actually receiving thousands of tiny data packets every second.

But how does information find the correct computer among billions of computers around the world?

Let's answer that question with another simple example.

📬 Who Should Receive the Letter?

Imagine you want to send a letter to your friend.

What would happen if you wrote only your friend's name on the envelope?

For example, suppose you simply wrote:

Aibek

Would the letter arrive?

Of course not.

There may be thousands of people in the world with the name Aibek.

So what else do we write on an envelope?

• 🏠 House address
• 🏘️ Street name
• 🌆 City
• 🌍 Country

With this information, postal workers know exactly where the letter should be delivered.

A letter without an address cannot reach its owner.

💻 Computers Need Addresses Too

The Internet works in much the same way.

Phones, computers, and other digital devices also need to find one another.

That is why every device connected to the Internet has its own unique address.

This address is called an IP Address.

An IP Address is the unique address of a device on the Internet.

Using this address, information can be delivered to the correct device.

🚚 Who Should Receive the Photo?

Imagine you send a photo to your friend.

That photo may travel through many computers, routers, and cables across the Internet.

However, in the end, it must arrive at your friend's phone—not someone else's.

For that reason, every data packet contains the address of the device it is supposed to reach.

By reading that address, the Internet knows exactly where to deliver the photo.

🌍 The Similarity Between a Home Address and an IP Address

🏠 Real World	💻 Digital World
Home Address	IP Address
Letter	Data Packet
Postal Worker	The Internet
Homeowner	Computer or Smartphone

Can you see the similarity?

There are many similarities between the real world and the digital world.

🔢 What Does an IP Address Look Like?

An IP address usually consists of numbers.

For example:

192.168.1.15

You do not need to memorize these numbers.

For now, I think it is enough to remember one simple idea.

Every device connected to the Internet has its own unique address.

That unique address allows information to reach the correct destination.

If every computer has an IP address, then why don't we type long numbers every day?

For example, why do we type google.com into our browser?

Why don't we memorize numbers such as 192.168.1.15 instead?

One of the Internet's smartest helpers takes care of that job.

It is called the DNS (Domain Name System).

Which of these would be easier to type into your browser?

google.com

or

142.250.190.78

Of course, the first one.

Words are much easier for people to remember than long strings of numbers.

But then how does the Internet know that both of these refer to the same place?

Let's understand this with another simple example.

📱 The Contacts on Your Phone

Think about the contacts stored on your phone.

You might have contacts such as:

• 👩 Mom
• 👨 Dad
• 👵 Grandma
• 👦 Bekzat
• 👧 Aiperi

When you want to call someone, do you type their entire phone number from memory every single time?

Most of us don't, right?

We simply tap the person's name.

Your phone automatically finds the correct phone number connected to that name.

Your phone stores names for people, while it stores phone numbers for itself.

The Internet works in exactly the same way.

Now, children, let's use this opportunity to answer another interesting question.

Are a browser and a website the same thing?

Many people confuse these two concepts.

🌐 What Is a Website?

Imagine you come home from school and open your computer or smartphone.

Suppose you visit YouTube.

Then you search for information on Wikipedia.

Later, you log in to your school's online portal.

All of these have one thing in common.

They are all websites.

But what exactly is a website?

Let's discover it together.

🏠 A House on the Internet

A city contains thousands of houses.

Every house has its own address.

Every house is home to different people.

The Internet has something very similar.

You can think of every website as a separate house on the Internet.

Each one has its own address.

Each one contains its own information.

For example:

• 📺 YouTube — videos.
• 📚 Wikipedia — encyclopedia articles.
• 📧 Gmail — emails.
• 🛒 Online stores — products.
• 🏫 School websites — information about students and school activities.

Every website provides a particular service.

A website is a collection of information and services available on the Internet.

📖 The Pages of a Website

A book is not made up of just one page.

It contains many pages.

A website is exactly the same.

Every website is made up of many web pages.

For example, a school website might include pages such as:

• 🏠 Home
• 👨‍🏫 Teachers
• 📅 Class Schedule
• 📰 News
• 📞 Contact Information

All of these pages belong to the same website.

🏢 Where Does a Website Live?

Perhaps you have wondered about this before.

"Does a website live inside my phone?"

No.

A website does not live on our phone.

Instead, it is stored on a powerful computer located somewhere else in the world.

This powerful computer is called a server.

Whenever we open a website, our phone or computer communicates with that server and receives the information we requested.

Websites are stored on powerful computers called servers.

🌍 Millions of Websites

Today, there are millions of websites on the Internet.

Some are created for education.

Some are designed for games.

Some help people shop online.

Others allow people to communicate with one another.

💡 Remember

A website is a collection of information and services available on the Internet.

🧭 What Is a Browser?

Children, imagine that you visit a huge library.

Inside, there are thousands of books.

But can you read those books while standing outside the building?

Of course not.

First, you have to enter the library.

Only then can you see the books, choose one, and begin reading it.

A browser performs a very similar job.

A browser is a program that helps us open and view websites on the Internet.

🌐 What Does a Browser Do?

When you type the address of a website into your browser, several interesting things happen.

1. 🌍 The browser connects to the Internet.
2. 📖 DNS helps find the website's address.
3. 💻 The server sends the website's information.
4. 🖼️ The browser displays that information beautifully on your screen.

If browsers did not exist, we would see only the website's source code.

The browser reads that code and turns it into text, pictures, buttons, videos, and everything else we see on the screen.

A browser transforms website code into something people can easily read and use.

🧩 Popular Browsers

You have probably used some of these programs before.

• 🌈 Google Chrome
• 🦊 Mozilla Firefox
• 🧭 Microsoft Edge
• 🧭 Safari
• 🎭 Opera

All of these are web browsers.

Although they may look a little different, they all perform the same basic job.

They allow us to open and view websites on the Internet.

🤔 Are Chrome and Google the Same Thing?

Many people say something like this:

"I opened Google."

But in reality, they usually mean that they opened the Google Chrome browser.

Then, inside that browser, they use the Google search engine.

These are two completely different things.

• 🧭 Chrome — a web browser.
• 🔍 Google — a search engine.

🔍 What Is a Search Engine?

Now let's imagine another situation.

Your teacher asks you to find information about the traditional Kyrgyz white felt hat, the Ak Kalpak.

Or perhaps you simply want to learn some interesting facts about dinosaurs.

We already know that there are millions of websites on the Internet.

But how do we find the one we actually need?

Searching through every website one by one would be impossible.

A special program helps us do this.

📚 Imagine a Giant Library

Imagine you visit the largest library in the world.

Inside, there are millions of books.

But you need only one particular book.

Would you look through every single book one by one?

Of course not.

You would ask the librarian for help.

The librarian would show you the books that best match the topic you are looking for.

A search engine works in exactly the same way.

A search engine helps us find the information we need on the Internet.

🌍 How Does a Search Engine Work?

Suppose you type these words into the search box.

Mountains of Kyrgyzstan

The search engine looks through millions of websites and suggests the pages that are most relevant to your search.

All of this happens in just a few seconds.

That is why we can find information so quickly.

🔍 Popular Search Engines

• 🔍 Google
• 🟦 Bing
• 🦆 DuckDuckGo
• 🌳 Ecosia

All of these are search engines.

They all have the same main purpose—to help people find information on the Internet.

🤔 What Is the Difference Between Google and Chrome?

Many people ask this question.

Let's compare them in the table below.

Google Chrome	Google
🧭 A web browser	🔍 A search engine
Opens websites.	Finds websites.
A software program.	An online service.

That is why we first open a web browser.

Then, inside the browser, we use a search engine such as Google.

🧩 Everything Works Together

Now let's put together everything we have learned so far.

1. 📱 You open a web browser.
2. ⌨️ You type what you want to search for.
3. 🔍 The search engine finds the most relevant websites.
4. 🌐 You open the website you want.
5. 📦 The Internet sends the information as data packets.
6. 🏠 The IP address delivers the information to the correct computer.
7. 📖 DNS converts the website's name into an IP address.
8. 🖥️ The browser displays the received information on your screen.

Can you see how everything works together?

The Internet is not just one technology. It is the result of many different technologies working together as one team.

📶 Are the Internet and Wi-Fi the Same Thing?

Many people think that the Internet and Wi-Fi are the same thing. However, they are two different concepts.

The Internet is the worldwide network that connects computers and other devices across the globe.

Wi-Fi is a wireless technology that connects your phone, computer, tablet, and other devices to your router.

You can think of it like a system of roads.

• 🛣️ The Internet is like the world's network of highways.
• 🏡 Wi-Fi is like the small road that connects your house to those highways.

Sometimes you may still see the Wi-Fi symbol on your phone even though the Internet is not working.

This can happen because your device is successfully connected to the router, but the router itself cannot connect to your Internet Service Provider.

Wi-Fi connects your device to the router, while the Internet connects the router to the rest of the world.

⚡ What Is Internet Speed?

Internet speed tells us how quickly information is downloaded to your device and uploaded from your device.

With a fast Internet connection, websites open quickly, videos play smoothly, and files download in less time.

With a slow Internet connection, videos may stop and buffer, pictures may load slowly, and online games may experience delays.

🚀 How Can We Test Internet Speed?

If your Internet seems slow, you can check its speed.

With your parents' permission, you can follow these simple steps:

1. 🧭 Open a web browser.
2. ⌨️ Type Internet Speed Test into the search box.
3. ▶️ Open one of the speed-testing websites and start the test.
4. 📊 The screen will display your download and upload speeds.

Internet speed is usually measured in Mbps (megabits per second).

Generally, the higher the number, the faster information can be sent and received.

However, the results may vary depending on the time of day, the number of connected devices, your distance from the router, and your Internet provider's network.

🐢 Why Does the Internet Sometimes Become Slow?

There are several reasons why your Internet connection may become slow.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Too Many Devices Are Connected

Imagine that five people in your home are connected to the same Wi-Fi network at the same time.

• One person is watching a movie on TV.
• Another person is playing an online game.
• A third person is downloading a very large file.
• Two other people are watching videos on their phones.

In this situation, the available Internet bandwidth is shared among all of those devices.

If three of those devices stop using the Internet and only two remain active, the Internet connection will usually become faster for the remaining users.

However, this is not always guaranteed. The actual speed depends on your Internet plan, your router, and what each connected device is doing.

📍 You Are Too Far from the Router

Wi-Fi signals are strongest when you are close to the router.

Walls, doors, and other obstacles can weaken the wireless signal.

📥 A Large File Is Being Downloaded

Downloading a large game, software application, or video can use a significant portion of your Internet connection.

🔌 There Is a Problem with the Router or Internet Connection

Sometimes the router may temporarily stop working properly.

In other cases, your Internet Service Provider may be experiencing a technical problem.

🌐 The Website Itself Is Slow

Sometimes your Internet connection is working perfectly, but the website still opens slowly.

This may happen because the website's server is busy or because the site contains many large images, videos, or advertisements.

🛠️ What Can You Do If the Internet Is Slow?

If your Internet connection becomes slow, these simple steps may help.

• ✅ Move closer to the router.
• ✅ Disconnect devices that are not currently using the Wi-Fi.
• ✅ Pause unnecessary video streaming or large file downloads.
• ✅ Close browser tabs that you no longer need.
• ✅ With the help of an adult, turn the router off, wait a moment, and then turn it back on.
• ✅ Check whether the Internet is working on other devices.
• ✅ If the problem continues, tell your parents or contact your Internet Service Provider.

If your Internet becomes slow, don't panic. First, try to find out whether the problem is with your device, the Wi-Fi connection, the router, or your Internet Service Provider.

💡 Let's Use the Internet Wisely

The Internet gives us wonderful opportunities to learn new things, explore the world, and communicate with people.

However, it is very important to use it wisely and responsibly.

• 🔒 Never share your personal information with people you do not know.
• 👨‍👩‍👧 Ask a trusted adult before opening a suspicious website.
• ⏰ Manage your screen time wisely.
• 👀 Give your eyes regular breaks instead of looking at the screen for too long.
• 🤝 Always be kind and respectful to other people online.

The Internet is much more than a place to watch videos or play games.

It is a vast digital world that connects people, information, and technologies across the globe.

The better we understand the Internet, the more safely, wisely, and effectively we can use it.

☁️ What Is the Cloud?

Children, have you ever wondered where our photos and files are stored if we don't save them on our phones?

Let's begin another exciting journey to explore a technology that works closely with the Internet—the Cloud.

"Save your photos to the Cloud."

or

"My files are stored in the Cloud."

When children hear these expressions, some of them might think:

"Are my photos really stored inside the clouds in the sky?"

The correct answer is no. Our data is not stored inside the clouds in the sky.

Then why is it called the Cloud?

Because instead of storing all of our information only on our own phones or computers, we can also store it on other powerful computers through the Internet.

This type of service is called the Cloud.

💻 Where Is This Information Actually Stored?

It is stored in large data centers located in different countries around the world.

Inside these centers, thousands of powerful computers work day and night.

These large facilities are called Data Centers.

That is why the word Cloud does not refer to real clouds in the sky.

Instead, it refers to a huge network of servers located all around the world.

The Cloud is a large storage system that can be accessed through the Internet.

📱 We Use the Cloud Every Day

Children, even if you don't realize it, I believe that your parents, older brothers and sisters, and teachers use Cloud services almost every day.

For example:

• 📸 Google Photos — stores photos.
• 📄 Google Drive — stores documents.
• 🍎 iCloud — stores information from Apple devices.
• 📁 Microsoft OneDrive — stores files.

The main purpose of these services is to keep our information safe and allow us to access it from anywhere through the Internet.

📲 What Happens If We Buy a New Phone?

Let's imagine something.

Our old phone suddenly stops working.

Then we buy a new phone.

If our photos were stored in the Cloud, we can simply download them again.

Our pictures won't disappear together with the old phone.

That is exactly why so many people use Cloud services.

🎒 What Is the Cloud Like?

Real World	Digital World
🏢 Storage Warehouse	☁️ Cloud
📦 Boxes	📁 Files
🚚 Retrieve them whenever needed	🌐 Download them through the Internet

💾 Google Drive — Your Personal Cloud Storage

If you or your parents use a Google account, then you also have access to a Cloud storage service called Google Drive.

Google Drive allows users to store their files through the Internet.

At the moment, Google provides approximately 15 GB of free storage for every Google account.

You can use this space to store photos, documents, videos, school assignments, and many other types of files.

Files stored in the Cloud help save space on your phone or computer.

For example, instead of keeping thousands of photos only on your phone, you can upload many of them to Google Drive or another Cloud service.

This leaves more free storage on your phone or computer, helping your devices work faster and more smoothly.

In addition, as long as you have an Internet connection, you can open those same files from another phone, tablet, or computer.

The Cloud helps us store information safely, save storage space on our devices, and access our files from almost anywhere.

🚀 What Will We Learn Next?

Google Drive is just one of the many useful services provided by Google.

In the following chapters of this book, we will explore many of Google's most popular online services.

• 📧 Gmail — sending and receiving emails.
• 📁 Google Drive — storing files in the Cloud.
• 📄 Google Docs — creating documents.
• 📊 Google Sheets — working with spreadsheets.
• 📽️ Google Slides — creating presentations.

Millions of people around the world use these services every day at school, university, and work.

Let's explore each of these exciting services together in the next chapters of this book.