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
Worksheet
Curated OER

Implementing Algorithms Using Matlab

For Students 11th - Higher Ed
In this math learning exercise, learners practice implementing algorithms using the computer program of Matlab. They practice using the programs of scripts and functions.
Activity
Computer Science Unplugged

Marching Orders—Programming Languages

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Computers need precise directions to complete a task. Class members experience what it is like to program a computer with an activity that asks one pupil to describe an image while classmates follow the directions to duplicate the picture.
Interactive
Code.org

Minecraft Hour of Code

For Teachers 2nd - 12th
Devote an hour to computer coding ... it's time well spent! The activity has young computer scientists write code to solve puzzles in the Minecraft game. They learn how to apply block codes and repeat loops.
Activity
Computer Science Unplugged

Treasure Hunt—Finite-State Automata

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Introduce your class to the concept of finite-state automata with an activity that asks individuals to try to map their way to Treasure Island by taking different routes though an island chain. Each island has two ship sailing...
Lesson Plan
Ontario

Computer Hardware —Computer Studies

For Teachers 9th - 12th
What kind of components are needed for a computer? Through a differentiated lesson, individuals learn about six hardware computer components. They conduct research to determine the range of options for the components. Class members...
Lesson Plan
Code.org

Hard Problems – Traveling Salesperson Problem

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Even computers find this to be a hard problem. In the eighth installment of a 12-part unit, young computer scientists learn about the traveling salesperson problem. They formulate algorithms to solve the problem and find out why it is...
AP Test Prep
College Board

An Introduction to Polymorphism in Java

For Students 10th - 12th
Run a lesson on run-time polymorphism. An AP® curriculum module introduces polymorphism in Java. It identifies the five major types of run-time polymorphism and provides a brief description and example for each type.
Activity
Computer Science Unplugged

Card Flip Magic—Error Detection and Correction

For Teachers 4th - 12th
I can find the error in an array of cards? After watching a demonstration class members search for the error is the provided cards. The resource provides a real-life example of using ISBN numbers in error detection and using check...
Activity
Computer Science Unplugged

The Orange Game–Routing and Deadlock in Networks

For Teachers 4th - 12th
How is data able to move in a congested network? Groups simulate moving data around a congested network by passing fruit around a circle, following specific rules, until everyone ends up with their own fruit. Extension activities...
Activity
Beauty and Joy of Computing

Three Key List Operations

For Students 9th - 12th
Develop an understanding of the Map, Keep, and Combine operations. The lab leads the class through the exploration of three list operations. Each task contains a self-check to measure scholars' understanding of the operation in the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pen Pals

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students make their own predictions about the amount of different types of birds at each site before they go there. In groups, they collect the bird data and compose letters to their pen pals sharing their information. To end the lesson,...
Activity
Computer Science Unplugged

Tablets of Stone—Network Communication Protocols

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Show your learners that the game of Telephone isn't the only way messages get mixed up. Pairs transform into the sender and receiver of a message sent in packets. At least one pupil is the messenger who either delivers, delays, or...
Lesson Plan
Code.org

Number Systems

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Generating a system of shapes. Groups work together to create a number system using three different shapes as symbols. The groups should come up with the rules that generate all the possible permutations of the three shapes.
Lesson Plan
Drexel University

Learning Roomba Module 5: Localization

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Where is my robot? Pupils create programs that utilize the localization services that a Roomba uses to determine its surroundings.
Lesson Plan
Code.org

The Need for Algorithms

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Pairs work through two scenarios that require them to generate an algorithm. The first activity requires pairs to define a common language to use; the second comes with the language. The pairs then must determine how to code the...
Lesson Plan
Code.org

Algorithms Detour - Shortest Path

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young programmers investigate the Single Source Shortest Path problem by working in paris to devise their own algorithm. They then progress to using Dijkstra's Algorithm to solve the problem. 
Lesson Plan
Code.org

Practice PT - The Internet and Society

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Speaking of the Internet. The culminating lesson for the unit on the Internet challenges pupils to prepare short, two-minute speeches on an issue facing society. The pupils chose from three topics that connect the Internet and...
Lesson Plan
Code.org

Good and Bad Data Visualizations

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Good versus bad data. Pairs rate online collections of data representations from good to bad and then suggest ways to improve the visualizations. The class then creates a list of best practices and common errors in data representations...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Definition and Applications of Computational Science

For Teachers Higher Ed
Students participate in a variety of instructional experiences about Computer Science. They define Computational Science and describe computational simulation. They also compare and contrast Computational Science and Computer Science.
Instructional Video3:27
SciShow

Great Minds: Alan Turing

For Students 9th - 12th
Alan Turing helped defeat the Nazis and conceptualized the first computers, yet he was arrested for gross indecency because he was homosexual. The video explains the math genius and how his many talents were used to help society. It also...
Unit Plan
Harvard University

Creative Computing

For Teachers K - 12th
Scratch the surface of computer coding. A seven-unit lesson guide provides a crash course on computer programming. It uses a programming language called Scratch.
Instructional Video5:47
Veritasium

How Much Information?

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
How much information can we process? How much information is stored inside us? These questions, and many more, inspired an inquisitive installment from a larger video series. From verbal and written language to DNA and computers,...
Lesson Plan
Code.org

Sending Binary Messages

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Pairs build a device that will be able to send a binary message. They then update their device to allow it to send four possible messages before upping the ante to eight. The provided self-assessment rubric comes with reflection...
Lesson Plan
Code.org

The Need for DNS

For Teachers 9th - 12th
That's one complicated address book! To understand the need for a system that keeps track of addresses, pupils trying to find the IP address of their classmates. Then individuals change their IP addresses, which leads to research...

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