In this introductory activity, students will use two-color counters to explore adding integers. Students will also develop a working definition of the additive inverse. Using online two-color counters, students will discover algorithms for adding integers. Finally, students will develop addition integer rules based on the solutions to the mathematical sentences modeled using the two-color counters.
Adding Integers Using Two-Color Counters Student Response Page
Have you ever had a complex problem that you needed to solve? This could be a math problem, science experiment, an essay you need to write, and coding and game design. It could even be as simple as planning the best route to school or baking your favorite cookies!
Computational thinking can be used to take a complex problem, understand what the problem is and develop possible solutions to solve or explain it.
Students will complete Quests to learn about the four stages of computational thinking:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
When you have completed this activity you will:
Computers draw lines and circles during many common tasks, such as using an image editor. But how does a computer know which pixels to darken to make a line?
Students will discover two common algorithms used to draw a line between two points and a circle of a given radius.
This activity introduces the idea of “divide and conquer” using a fictitious but serious problem – a pair of dirty socks have accidentally been wrapped in one of the presents that Santa is about to deliver, and he needs to figure out which one to avoid a child getting a nasty surprise.
You can either play the video (linked in the activity) or download the PDF of the book (see the PDF files in the link to the activity) to read aloud or give to students.
The solution in the story points out that when there are 1024 boxes to test, instead of having to open all of them until the socks are found, one half can be eliminated at a time, and repeatedly halving the problem very quickly narrows it down to one box (the size of the problem starts at 1024, then with one weighing there are 512 boxes, then 256, 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2 and 1.) This idea comes up frequently in the design of fast computer algorithms.
Computer programs often need to process a sequence of symbols such as letters or words in a document, or even the text of another computer program. Computer scientists often use a finite-state automaton to do this. A finite-state automaton (FSA) follows a set of instructions to see if the computer will recognize the word or string of symbols. We will be working with something equivalent to a FSA—treasure maps!
The goal of the students is to find Treasure Island. Friendly pirate ships sail along a fixed set of routes between the islands in this part of the world, offering rides to travelers. Each island has two departing ships, A and B, which you can choose to travel on. You need to find the best route to Treasure Island. At each island you arrive at you may ask for either ship A or B (not both). The person at the island will tell you where your ship will take you to next, but the pirates don’t have a map of all the islands available. Use your map to keep track of where you are going and which ship you have traveled on.
Students use computer science to simulate extreme sports, make their own fitness gadget commercial, and create commentary for a big sporting event.
Sports is a complete theme designed to be completed over eight, 45-75 minute, sessions. For each activity, students will watch a series of videos and create one coding project with opportunities to personalize their work using “Add-Ons,” which are mini-coding challenges that build on top of the core project.
Be sure to review the Materials tab for the lesson plan, starter guide, and more.
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In Art, students create animations, interactive artwork, photograph filters, and other exciting, artistic projects.
Art is a complete theme designed to be completed over eight, 45-75 minute, sessions. For each Activity, students will watch a series of videos and create one coding project with opportunities to personalize their work using “Add-Ons”, which are mini-coding challenges that build on top of the core project.
In Music & Sound, students use the computer to play musical notes, create a music video, and build an interactive music display while learning how programming is used to create music.
Music is a complete theme designed to be completed over eight, 45-75 minute, sessions. For each activity, students will watch a series of videos and create one coding project with opportunities to personalize their work using “Add-Ons,” which are mini-coding challenges that build on top of the core project.
Students take what they've learned through Unit 6 Chapter 1 and develop an app of their own design that uses the circuit board to output information.
Note: You will need to create a free account on code.org before you can view this resource.
In this multi-day lesson, the class uses the problem-solving process from Unit 1 to create a platform jumper game. After looking at a sample game, the class defines what their games will look like and uses a structured process to build them. Finally, the class reflects on how the games could be improved and implements those changes.
The class plans and builds original games using the project guide from the previous two lessons. Working individually or in pairs, the class plans, develops, and gives feedback on the games. After incorporating the peer feedback, the class shares out the completed games.
After a brief review of how the counter pattern is used to move sprites, the class is introduced to the properties that set velocity and rotation speed directly. As they use these new properties in different ways, they build up the skills they need to create a basic side scroller game.
