What is the main difference between an engineer and a technician?  This is one of the driving questions in a plan that proves that analysis at every step of development is crucial to the engineering design process. The lesson...

Knowing the temperature coefficient allows for the calculation of voltage output at any temperature. Groups conduct an experiment to determine the effects of temperature on the power output of a solar panel. The teams alter the...

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.

Move beyond buttons when designing user interfaces. In the fourth installment of a 21-part unit, young computer scientists learn to apply design mode, which gives users options for colors, fonts, etc. They learn to incorporate these...

Scholars continue their study of event-driven programming by creating a multi-screen app in the fifth lesson of the series. They incorporate previously learned elements and events in the mini-project.

Not all variables are created equal. Discover how variables in computer science are different from variables in math class. Scholars learn to work with variables in computer programming by developing a mental model for how variables...

Investigate the benefits of using global variables. The seventh installment of a 21-part unit continues the study of variables from the previous lesson. Young computer scientists modify two existing apps by adding variables and learn how...

Explore decision-making logic in programming computer games. The 10th installment of a 21-part unit teaches scholars how to apply conditional statements and Boolean expressions. They use these concepts to create a "Guess My Number" game...

On one condition ... explore how to use conditionals within conditionals. Scholars apply conditional statements to improve upon the app they built during a previous lesson. They also learn about nested conditionals in the 11th lesson of...

Scholars use a playing card activity to help them develop a program to find the minimum value of a list. They learn to use for loops to write code that will process lists. 

Young computer scientists explore how to use the return command in computer programing by playing Go Fish. They learn about functions that return values and then write a turtle driver app using the return function. 

Scholars learn how to make a digital canvas and fill it with artwork by creating a drawing app using the canvas element. The activity requires learners to previous knowledge of arrays and return commands to draw images.

The last installment of a 21-part unit is a practice performance task that asks class members to design an app using skills from the unit. Scholars take one of the previous apps from the unit and modify it by adding elements and making...

Introduce event-driven programming. Young computer scientists learn the meaning of event-driven programming and how it is different from previous styles of programming. They play a card game to simulate the challenges that occur in this...

Start programming in event-driven style. Scholars learn to place buttons on the user interface and use event handlers. They also learn to recognize errors in code and debug as necessary. This is the second lesson in the series of 21.

How can you store lists in a computer program? The 16th installment of a 21-part unit introduces arrays as a way to store lists within a variable. Individuals program a list of their favorite things—adding interest to the activity.

Explore how people use event-driven programming in games with a lesson that teaches scholars to use new screen elements and events. They apply these new elements to create a simple chaser game.

Scholars explore compound conditional logic and learn to use the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT within conditional statements by incorporating these operators to improve a previously created app.

Scholars apply previously learned skills to create a functional computer program. They produce a digital assistant incorporating string commands and complex conditional logic.

Bring your pupils in the loop with while loops. Scholars learn how to modify conditional statements to produce while loops in the 14th lesson of the series. They use flowcharts to understand loops and then program some examples of...

Young computer scientists continue programming with while loops by creating a program to simulate coins flipping. 

Explore the trade-offs of using a free app. The fourth installment of a 12-part unit helps young consumers discover the cost of receiving a free service. They learn how these apps make use of their access to data.

Scholars learn how to crack secret codes as they continue reading from the Blown to Bits and try to crack the random substitution cipher. They also begin learning about the Vigenere cipher. 

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...