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This lesson presents a top-down problem-solving strategy for designing solutions to programming problems. Students use a worksheet to learn about top-down design, and then on paper, design a solution to a new turtle drawing challenge with a partner. Having practiced this approach on paper and in code, students will be presented again with the 3x3 square challenge from an earlier lesson and asked to improve upon their old solution by designing multiple layers of functions.

Students will be able to:
- write a complete program with functions that solve sub-tasks of a larger programming task.
- explain how functions are an example of abstraction.
- use a “top-down” problem-solving approach to identify sub-tasks of a larger programming task.

Note: You will need to create a free account on code.org before you can view this resource.

A nautically-themed infographic with an accompanying video helps students understand how to tailor the search process to the complexity of the question; then students put their new search strategies to work.

Users must create a free account to access this resource. 

We're going to discuss the critical role graphical user interfaces, or GUIs played in the adoption of computers. Before the mid-1980's the most common way people could interact with their devices was through command-line interfaces, which though efficient, aren't really designed for casual users. This all changed with the introduction of the Macintosh by Apple in 1984.

This lesson attempts to walk students through the iterative development process of building an app (basically) from scratch that involves the use of if statements. Following an imaginary conversation between two characters - Alexis and Michael - students follow the problem solving and program design decisions they make for each step of constructing the app. Along the way, they decide when and how to break things down into functions, and of course, discuss the logic necessary to make a simple game.

The last step - writing code that executes an end-of-game condition - students must do on their own. How they decide to use if statements to end the game will require some creativity. The suggested condition - first to score 10 points - is subtly tricky and can be written in many different ways.

At the conclusion of the lesson, there is three practice Create PT-style questions as well as resources explaining the connection between this lesson and the actual Create PT. Depending on how you use these materials they can easily add an additional day to this lesson.

Students will be able to:
- write code to implement solutions to problems from pseudocode or description.
- follow the iterative development process of a collaboratively created program.
- develop and write code for conditional expressions to incorporate into an existing program.
- write a large program from scratch when given directions for each step.

Note: You will need to create a free account on code.org before you can view this resource.

Students consider the feelings of themselves and others when making decisions about when, where, and how much to use technology. Through video and song, students will learn to balance the time they use technology and when to take breaks. 

Students will be able to:

• Know when and why to take breaks from device time.

• Consider the feelings of the people around them, even when engaged in fun online activities.

Users will need to create a free account to access resources. 

This DragonflyTV segment introduces NASA roboticist Dr. Ayanna Howard. Her job is to use artificial intelligence (AI) to build robots that can travel into space and other hazardous locations. In this segment, she discusses her work on a rover for use on Mars. Also available in Spanish. This video can be played as an introduction to a lesson on artificial intelligence.

In this lesson, students discuss their online experiences and learn how to minimize the potential risks that may be associated with them. Using a tip sheet, students explore the many tools and strategies that can be used to prevent negative online experiences. Once they have reviewed these strategies and resources, students will extend their knowledge by playing a game in which they compete against other students to match a series of technological "tools" to the "risks" they can help prevent. 

Students will display the ability to:

• recognize the potential security risks and drawbacks of engaging in various online activities

• use a variety of tools and techniques to secure and protect their online experiences

• apply principles of board game design through the creation of a Cyber Security game (Grade 7/8 only)

   

  Note: You will need to create a free account before you can view this resource. 

The web is full of photos, and even videos, that are digitally altered. And it's often hard to tell the difference between what's real and what's fake. Help your students ask critical questions about why someone might alter a photo or video in the first place.

Students will be able to:

• Recognize that photos and videos can be altered digitally.

• Identify different reasons why someone might alter a photo or video.

• Analyze altered photos and videos to try to determine why.

Users will need to create a free account to access this resource. 

Hear advice on internet privacy from the much-loved character Ruff Ruffman, in this animated video from RUFF RUFFMAN: HUMBLE MEDIA GENIUS. With his uniquely comical style, Ruff helps students acquire some key twenty-first-century skills. This resource is part of the RUFF RUFFMAN: HUMBLE MEDIA GENIUS Collection. This video can be played during a lesson on identifying and demonstrating personal safety use of digital devices.

This is a lesson plan from Google Education's Applied Digital Skills. During this lesson, students will research a topic related to technology safety, create a project, and present their findings. As they complete the lesson, students will explore all sides of the topic they choose related to technology, ethics, and security. Students will explain technology's risks and dangers, and consider solutions to keep users safe. They will plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits. Students will publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.

This lesson covers hyperlinks, which allow web developers to connect pages together into one website. The class will link together all the previous pages into one project and create navigation bars for each page before publishing the entire site to the Web.

Note: You will need to create a free account on code.org before you can view this resource.

What does it actually mean to "be yourself" or to "be real?" Those are deep thoughts for any middle-schooler. For kids today, these questions matter online, too. Help your students explore why some people create different or alternate personas for themselves online and on social media.

Students will be able to:

• Reflect on the reasons why people might create fake social media accounts.
• Identify the possible results of posting from a fake social media account.
• Debate the benefits and drawbacks of posting from multiple accounts.

Resources available in both English and Spanish.

Social media can be a place to connect, learn, and, most of all, share. But how much do kids know about what they're sharing -- and not just about themselves but each other? Help students think critically about their digital footprints on social media.

• Identify reasons for using social media and the challenges that often come along with it.
• Reflect on the responsibilities they have that are related to digital footprints -- both their own and others' -- when they're using social media.
• Identify ways to make the most of social media while still caring for the digital footprints of themselves and others.

Users will need to create a free account to access this resource. 

Are you ready to code a computer program, but not sure where to start? Write pseudocode! Computer programmers often start projects by using everyday language to write out what they want to happen in their code--this is called pseudocode. Students will write their own pseudocode in this activity.

This lesson continues the study of binary representation systems, this time with images. The class is introduced to the concept of splitting images into squares or "pixels," which can then be turned on or off individually to make the entire image. After doing a short set of challenges using the Pixelation Widget, the class makes connections between the system for representing images and the system for representing text they learned in the previous lesson.

Note: You will need to create a free account on code.org before you can view this resource.

Networks allow businesses, institutions, and individual users to instantly communicate and share information. They allow smaller organizations to work efficiently by sharing resources.

This webpage explores general network components, LAN and WAN networks, as well as wireless and wired networks. 

The lesson begins on page 26 of the document accessed via the resource link.

Students will:

- be able to define the term "trademark".

- categorize products as generic or brand name.

- identify popular trademarks.

- identify symbols associated with the protection of trademarks.

- utilize a trademark database. 

- create a custom trademark and present it to the class. 

Social media algorithms often create "news bubbles" that block exposure to opposing points of view. Here you’ll get concrete advice from leading media experts on how to break free and get fully informed. Use this lesson plan and accompanying video on Decoding Media Bias (also found in the Support Materials), authored by social studies educator Liz Ramos. Students will look at several different media websites and discuss any bias found on these sites. 

The class explores a variety of different teapot designs to consider how design choices are made and why. Using the teapots as an example, the class will explore the relationship between users, their needs, and the design of the objects they use.

Note: You will need to create a free account on code.org before you can view this resource.

Images are everywhere on computers. Some are obvious, like photos on web pages and icons on buttons, but others are more subtle: a font is really a collection of images of characters, and a fax machine is really a computer that is good at scanning and printing.

This activity explores how images as data structures are displayed, based on the pixel as a building block. In particular, the great quantity of data in an image means that we need to use compression to be able to store and transmit it efficiently. The compression method used in this activity is based on the one used in fax machines, for black and white images.

"Old meme is old." But why is this such a bad thing? Once the height of internetiness, the sight of a LOLCat is now unforgivable. Memes become passe very quickly: after just months or even weeks of a new meme, we tire of the once hugely popular joke. Why does this happen, and so rapidly? Is it a reflection of the sheer volume of visual information we absorb from the internet? Or, does it say something about this specific visual culture? 

In this lesson, students look at a simple example of how a computer could be used to complete the decision making step of the data problem-solving process. Students are given the task of creating an algorithm that could suggest a vacation spot. Students then create rules, or an algorithm, that a computer could use to make this decision automatically. Students share their rules and what choices their rules would make with the class data. Then, they use their rules on data from their classmates to test whether their rules would make the same decision that a person would. The lesson concludes with a discussion about the benefits and drawbacks of using computers to automate the data problem-solving process.

Note: You will need to create a free account on code.org before you can view this resource.

You will be familiar with computer graphics from games, films, and images, and there is amazing software available to create images, but how does the software work? The role of a computer scientist is not just to use graphics systems, but to create them, and especially invent new techniques.

The entertainment industry is always trying to develop new graphics software so that they can push the boundaries and create new experiences. We've seen this in the evolution of animated films, from simple 2D films to realistic computer-generated movies with detailed 3D images. The names of dozens of computer scientists now regularly appear in the credits for films that use CGI or animation, and some have even won Oscars for their innovative software!

Movie and gaming companies can't always use existing software to make the next great thing – they need computer scientists to come up with better graphics techniques to make something that's never been seen before. The creative possibilities are endless!

Computer graphics are used in a wide variety of situations: games and animated movies are common examples, but graphics techniques are also used to visualize large amounts of data (such as all cellphone calls being made in one day or friend connections in a social network), to display and animate graphical user interfaces, to create virtual reality and augmented reality worlds, and much more.

Ever have an argument with someone, and no matter how many facts you provide, you just can’t get that person to see it your way? One big reason for this is cognitive bias, which is a limitation in our thinking that can cause flaws in our judgment. Confirmation bias is a specific type of cognitive bias that motivates us to seek out the information we already believe and ignore or minimize facts that threaten what we believe. Studies show that when people are presented with facts that contradict what they believe, the parts of the brain that control reason and rationality go inactive. But, the parts of the brain that process emotion light up like the Fourth of July. Have your students watch the video and respond to the question in KQED Learn. This video has a learning activity in the Support Materials section.

This activity revisits concepts from Happy Maps (CSF Unit 2 Lesson 5). This time, students will be solving bigger, longer puzzles with their code, leading them to see the utility in structures that let them write longer code in an easier way.

This lesson serves as an introduction to loops. Loops allow for students to simplify their code by grouping commands that need to be repeated. Students will develop critical thinking skills by noticing repetition in movements of their classmates and determining how many times to repeat commands. By seeing "Happy Maps" again, students will get the chance to relate old concepts such as sequencing to the new concept of repeat loops.

Note: You will need to create a free account on code.org before you can view this resource.

Students explore the concept of privacy in their everyday lives, and as it relates to using the Internet. Students examine a scenario in which a research company collects information about them. They reflect on concerns they might have, and they learn about the kinds of information websites collect. They learn that sites are required to post their privacy policies and that kids should check those policies on the sites they visit.

Students will be able to:

• explore the concept of privacy in both a real-world setting and online.

• understand how and why companies collect information about visitors to their websites.

• learn and use online privacy terms.

• learn that websites are required to post privacy policies.

From spam filters and self-driving cars to cutting edge medical diagnosis and real-time language translation, there has been an increasing need for our computers to learn from data and apply that knowledge to make predictions and decisions. This is the heart of machine learning which sits inside the more ambitious goal of artificial intelligence.