This short unplugged activity, away from computers, introduces pattern recognition using familiar objects. Children are asked to analyse groups of objects (cats, cars and so on) to identify features common to all of them. Exceptions to the 'rules' are discussed, and parallels with writing computer programs are...

This 'unplugged' activity by Barefoot Computing, introduces pattern recognition and the idea that algorithms can be repurposed. Cooking recipes are analysed to find parts that are common to more than one. Reusable parts are then borrowed to create new recipes which the children share with the class. Additional...

This study unit offers some practical strategies that teachers use to structure learning. The techniques suggested are tried and tested; they draw on both academic research and the experience of practising teachers.

By working through this guide you can build your teaching repertoire step by step, starting...

This study unit offers some practical strategies that teachers use to improve the climate for learning. The techniques suggested are tried and tested; they draw on both academic research and the experience of practising teachers.

This study unit offers some practical strategies that teachers use to manage their classrooms, drawing on both academic research and the experience of practising teachers.

The guide enables teachers to build their...

These materials have been developed to give teachers a creative and engaging set of resources for use in the classroom, supplying the tools needed to raise awareness of key issues around personal information.

The primary school lesson plans explore what is meant by personal information, and give students the...

This document was designed to help school leaders and teachers explore key aspects of personalised teaching and learning and to consider their priorities for further development. For each aspect, there is a section on “How to do this well”, and the guidance was firmly based on practice consistently demonstrated in...

The guide Pictorial representation, from the Nuffield Mathematics Project, was designed to help teachers of students between the ages of 5 and 10. The guide deals with graphical representation in its many aspects. It contains helpful notes for the teachers as well as ideas and examples of students’ work.

Scientists at the University of Oxford are developing and improving computer programs that can learn. Often it is useful to feed computer programs a series of images and to get the computer to identify or sort them in some way, but how do computers create or store...

Aimed at early years and lower primary this resource supports the learning of basic programming. It contains a printable pirate themed programmable robot mat on a grid. Children can program a Bee Bot to visit several sites on the pirate island and reach a treasure chest. It is designed to be printed in several A4...

This Barefoot Computing activity challenges lower-primary children to debug simple Scratch programs that assemble pizzas on-screen. A simple four-step process for systematic debugging is demonstrated.

Using logical...

This set of five lessons introduces pupils to data modelling using spreadsheets through the theme of a class pizza party. Pupils will develop their computational thinking skills of abstraction, decomposition, algorithms and evaluation and combine different types of software to present their work. These sessions...

The growth of plants in space is a keen area of experimentation, including ongoing work aboard the International Space Station. Successful crops will help astronauts to spend longer in space, boosting their healthy diet while reducing the mass of prepared food that must be transported from Earth.

Using a...

This resource contains four instant maths ideas exploring how to represent data graphically. In the first task students record how long they watch TV, group the results and draw two separate graphs to compare boys and girls. The second task requires students to consider what type of diagram is suitable to represent...

Robots are really useful in space as they can do lots of different jobs, some of which are too difficult or dangerous for humans. This activity looks at the different uses of robots in space exploration, with children...