Computer Science Teacher Resources

Modern homes and classrooms are set up with any number of technological devices, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers. And there is a strong possibility that your students already know how to navigate these devices and the online world they access. But do they understand the science that powers their digital lives?

Start young computer scientists with the basics of computer anatomy and functions, as well as a historical perspective of the personal computer. A helpful video on Alan Turing, whom many consider to be the father of computer science, can also fill in some blanks for students who can’t identify the ancestry behind their smartphones.

Extend your curriculum with a research project on Big Data and its role in learners’ lives. An informative presentation on computer language that focuses on top-down and bottom-up processing augments a programming class, as well as a project that inspires programmers to design a virtual card game.

But computer science doesn’t stop with computers! Apply the algorithms that power personal devices to everyday processes, like sorting socks or making peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches. Learners can also create physical representations of binary numbers with egg cartons in a hands-on activity.

No matter what your computer science pupils need, we’ve got you covered with our teacher-curated resources at Lesson Planet!

Showing 1,120 resources
Instructional Video
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: What Should We Learn Next?

For Students 9th - 10th
Help decide what's next! What do you want to learn? [5:17]
Instructional Video
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: How I Got My Job and Where I'm Going

For Students 9th - 10th
What does it take to found a startup? Is a degree required? Jon talks about his path to founding Kodable, a Bay Area startup, and his plans for the future. [5:30]
Instructional Video
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: What I Do and How Much I Make

For Students 9th - 10th
What's it like to run a startup? Jon talks about his responsibilities and compensation as co-founder and CEO of Kodable, a Bay Area startup. [2:18]
Instructional Video
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Rsa Encryption: Step 1

For Students 9th - 10th
Introduction to why we would need RSA.
Instructional Video
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Primality Test Challenge

For Students 9th - 10th
How can a machine tell us if a number is prime?
Online Course
Cosmo Learning

Cosmo Learning: Vlsi Design

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of video lectures from a VLSI design course taught at the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning. The course focuses on design, verification, and test with forty lectures. Topics covered include bipolar junction...
Website
Other

The Alan Turing Homepage

For Students 9th - 10th
This site is dedicated to Alan Turing. It has a timeline of important events in his life as well as links to sites with additional information on him.
Website
Other

American Computer Museum

For Students 9th - 10th
This site presents a pictorial timeline of technology developments.
Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: History of Computing Hardware

For Students 9th - 10th
This site contains a Wikipedia description of the history of computing hardware.
Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: History of Computing

For Students 9th - 10th
This narrative from the Wikipedia encyclopedia presents the major developments in the history of computing. It discusses the earliest devices used to perform calculations, the era of modern computing that began during World War II,...
Article
History of Computing Science

History of Computing Science: Technology Advances

For Students 9th - 10th
The transistor and the integrated circuit were two inventions that fueled the technology explosion. This lecture presents a brief discussion of these two inventions.
Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: Timeline of Computing

For Students 9th - 10th
This article from the encyclopedia Wikipedia presents a detailed timeline of events in the history of computing from 500 BC to the beginning of the 21st century. Links are also provided for additional information on related subjects.
Handout
Other

Chronology of Personal Computers

For Students 9th - 10th
This site has a month-by-month outline of the essential happenings that shaped the personal computer industry from 1947 to the present.
Handout
Other

A Brief History of Computers and Networks

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides historical information on computers and networks, from the beginning of mechanical calculators in the 1640's to modern times.
Website
Other

Mark Chris Soft: The History of Computing

For Students 9th - 10th
This time line shows the development of computing from Schlckard's 1623 Calculating Clock to the launch of Microsoft Windows 95.
Article
History of Computing Science

History of Computing Science: Blaise Pascal

For Students 9th - 10th
Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher. He built the first mechanical calculator. This lecture presents a short treatment of his life and his accomplishments.
Article
History of Computing Science

History of Computing Science: Harvard Mark I

For Students 9th - 10th
The Harvard Mark I computer was the first large-scale automatic digital computer in the USA. This lecture provides a brief description of the Harvard Mark I computer.
Handout
Agnes Scott College

Agnes Scott College: Grace Murray Hopper

For Students 9th - 10th
Short biography includes a picture and references.
Handout
Yale University

Yale: The Ada Project: Grace Murray Hopper

For Students 9th - 10th
A concise biography that includes personal as well as professional information.
Article
University of Houston

University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: No. 1319: Differential Analyzer

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the work of Vannevar Bush, who invented the differential analyzer, an analog computer. This is a transcript of a radio broadcast.
Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: Personal Computer

For Students 9th - 10th
This site contains a Wikipedia description of personal computers.
Website
Other

The Antikythera Mechanism Learn About the Oldest Analog Computer

For Students 9th - 10th
This site contains a history of and a variety of links for the Antikythera Mechanism.
Handout
Danuta Bois

Distinguished Women of Past and Present: Grace Murray Hopper

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides a biography of the programming pioneer, Grace Murray Hopper. Discusses her education, teaching career, and distinguished career as a naval officer.
Website
Columbia University

Columbia University: The Ibm 360/91

For Students 9th - 10th
The IBM 360 was introduced in 1966 with the claim that it was the most powerful computer in the world. This site describes the capabilities of the IBM 360 and its applications, including several historical photographs of the computer in...

Browse by Subject


Computer Science