Computers are often required to find information in large collections of data. They need to develop quick and efficient ways of doing this. This activity demonstrates three different search methods: linear searching, binary searching and hashing. This resource begins with the introductory activity of battleships....

In this resource from the Construction Youth Trust, students are asked to work with percentage and decimal calculations when exploring the financial accounts of a small business. The materials have been written to help a non-teaching STEM professional to work with students in an educational setting.

The...

Even though computers are fast, there is a limit to how quickly they can solve problems. One way to speed things up is to use several computers to solve different parts of a problem. In this activity sorting networks are used to do several sorting comparisons at the same time. This resource begins with a discussion...

A series of spreadsheet-based activities to simulate both binary and hexadecimal encoded image files. The students are required to convert between binary and hexadecimal as well as to and from denary as part of the process of solving these puzzles. The worksheet contains a number of example pictures which the...

This resource introduces binary data to students via the creation of bracelets which display their name in binary. This lesson helps to demonstrate how it is possible to take something that we know and translate it into a series of ons and offs (ones or zeroes). The resource contains a lesson plan and related...

Students always need practice in number system conversion. This resource gives them instant feedback and allows them to progress from conversion to binary addition. This would make an ideal homework activity. the file is a macro enabled worksheet and can be downloaded from the zip file.

A set of simple scratch ‘debugging’ activities that children can use to apply their understanding of programs and codes.  Children are shown a series of faulty programs which are based around the water cycle.  They are then supported to use logical reasoning to locate and fix the bugs within them.  Notes for...

In this activity, students create colour images from satellite data. This allows them to study how different surfaces reflect different wavelengths of light, how coloured images are created using an RGB model, and how band combinations can be chosen to examine a particular landscape effectively.

In this one hour activity, students evaluate the types of fire risks in different buildings.  In the context of a team which has been contracted by the local council to improve fire safety, each team picks a building type and produces advice for the council.

This activity allows students to construct a paper CPU using “jigsaw” pieces. They can also add notes to their jigsaw explaining the function of each component. Carrying out this activity allows students to relate sub components of the CPU to one another. For example, they will appreciate that level 1 cache memory...

This worksheet is aimed at GCSE students aged 14 - 16. It is best used as a plenary activity at the end of the unit, after the students have been introduced to the fetch-decode-execute cycle and simple assembly code. Alternatively, the resource could be used as a home-learning task or an end of topic assessment....

When data is stored on a disk or transmitted from one computer to another, it is usually assumed that it doesn’t get changed in the process. But sometimes things go wrong and the data is changed accidentally. This activity uses a magic trick to show how to detect when data has been corrupted, and how to correct it...

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 sample of a teacher guide introduces basic robotics using Lego NXT hardware and software The general nature as well as the origins of robotics are covered. NXT robots are then introduced, as well as some basic mathematical and other considerations for using robots in the classroom. The importance and impact of...

Pupils can explore the characteristics of the surface of planet Mars and will learn how to navigate a planetary robotic vehicle on to it. The resource focuses on coding and uses Open Roberta Lab which is an online simulation tool. Pupils will become familiar with the main characteristics of the Martian surface and...