Students often find it difficult to understand the related concepts of acceleration and speed. Making use of the BBC micro:bit on-board accelerometer, this playful activity allows students to get an intuitive understanding through hands-on activity.

The simple game requires that students maintain...

This activity, available in three different programming languages, requires students to ‘dry run’ written code and work out what it does. This is a useful skill for programming, which tests their understanding of assignment and subsequent changes to variables within programs. They step through code and analyse the...

This activity includes a game-based approach to measuring reaction speed. Fast reflexes are vital to astronauts who may need to deal with rapidly escalating incidents and high-speed projectiles.

The effect of distraction on reaction speed is investigated – students collect multiple readings and take averages...

This unplugged activity, from the CS4FN team at Queen Mary University of London, helps learners to understand variable assignment and operations. They use the idea of variables as boxes as the basis of a group activity, developing their use of logical thinking to trace variables through programs.

The...

This unplugged activity from Peter McOwan and Paul Curzon mingles computer science with biology. A group activity is used that mimics the firing of neurons within the brain. These trigger other neurons to fire – these can be compared to AND gates in logic circuits.

The ‘brain in a bag’ kits used in the...

An ideal plan for a Christmas themed coding lesson! This plan involves a Christmas tree that has sparkles lighting up as the baubles, but it is also possible to use other Christmas-related ideas (for example Christmas cards) that have the same code.

This Royal Academy of Engineering resource teaches students coding through a series of physical computing and practical activities that explore the essential role engineers have in supporting the emergency services and search and rescue missions.

Combining plugged activities, using a Crumble Controller, and...

This is one of a series of resources to support the use of the BBC micro:bit. This resource focusses on pupils designing, programming and using a BBC micro:bit to find other micro:bits in a class treasure hunt.

In this activity pupils will make use of the BBC micro:bit to design and create a programmable...

This diagram supports the understanding of computational thinking, a skill in the primary computing curriculum. Students studying computing will gain an understanding of computational systems of all kinds, whether or not they include computers.

Computational thinking is the thought processes involved in...

This booklet, from the Mathematics Centre at the University of Chichester, explores how the microcomputer can be a valuable tool when engaged in investigating a situation that leads to such laborious arithmetic that the 'sums' spoil the activity, especially in the...

Written by Mark Dorling and Matthew Walker for Computing at School, this document maps the computer science, information technology and digital literacy strands of the National Curriculum Computing Programme of Study.

Each of the progression pathway statements is underpinned by one or more learning outcomes...

Using sparkles to light the night sky. It is possible to make them ‘twinkle’ or use an LDR so they only light up in the dark.

This unplugged activity uses a large model of a face, operated by several children working together, to teach how ‘emotion’ can be expressed by robots following simple rules. These rules are expressed as IF, THEN, ELSE, statements which, when...