This book will help budding young programmers explore two fundamental elements of...

This lengthier activity involves designing and creating a simple computer game using the free Microsoft Kodu platform. It is expected that the children will have some prior experience of Kodu, or that a basic tutorial is offered before commencing this activity. Worksheets are provided that help children through the...

This activity introduces children to the Kodu games programming environment through tinkering. They are asked to experiment with an existing game code, and also to start from a blank screen.

Guided...

This book produced by the team behind the Magpi magazine and the Raspberry Pi contains a series of projects suitable for students of all ages. It consists of 13 chapters which start off by introducing students to Scratch on the Raspberry Pi, it then builds up the complexity of the tasks chapter on chapter. A brief...

This edition of the Computing at School newsletter focuses on Computational Thinking, and contains articles covering:

*The importance of computational thinking

*...

In this adaptable lesson plan by Barefoot Computing, children create a simple model (out of Lego or similar) and then take photos to create instructions (an algorithm) for other children to recreate their model. By removing one block at a time they are decomposing the problem into manageable steps. Teachers may...

This resource provides a lesson plan and all the related materials to teach children about the principles of building and programming robots. It relates the components of a robot to the equivalents in humans for example relating human senses to the robots sensors, muscles to motors and brain to computer and program...

This edition of the Computing at School (CAS) newsletter is focused on physical computing, and features:

*The BBC Micro-Bit and Make It Digital projects

*CPD tips with Barefoot and Quickstart

*Primary school activities with Scratch and Makey Makey

*Scratch projects with Microsoft Kinect...

Computers are often used to arrange lists into some sort of order. For example, sorting names into alphabetical order, appointments or e-mail by date, or items in numerical order. Sorting lists helps us find things quickly, and also makes extreme values easy to see. If the wrong method is used, it can take a long...

Combining maths and computational thinking, this Barefoot Computing activity for upper primary uses linear number sequences to introduce algorithms in computing. Children work collaboratively to apply logical thinking and pattern recognition - key concepts used across the Barefoot Computing project. While using...

This activity combines computing and maths to look at algorithms. Children are challenged to solve missing number problems in number sequences, using logical reasoning. Additional challenges are then presented, and children are asked to share not just the answer, but the approach they took to solving the problem...

In this multi-lesson project pupils design and code a computer game. It uses a rainforest theme but can be adapted to any topic, with learners of varying age or ability.

The project includes:

• Decomposition of the elements of a game
• Designing the game
• Creating assets for the...

Beginning with the basics and moving gradually to greater challenges, this book takes you step-by-step through experiments and projects that show you how to make your Arduino or Raspberry Pi create and control movement, light, and sound. In other words: action!

The Arduino is a simple microcontroller with an...

Computers are usually programmed using a “language,” which is a limited vocabulary of instructions that can be obeyed. This activity gives students some experience with this aspect of programming. The resource begins with a demonstration of the marching order activity followed by the activity itself, together with...

The BBC micro:bit is capable of taking on a variety of roles including that of a powerful IoT device. In order to gain full access...