This resource details a real-world algorithm which students are unlikely to have encountered previously. The Luhn Algorithm is one method for validating that the long number on a credit/debit card is a valid number (it doesn't check if the card is actually a credit/debit one, just that the number conforms to the...

An introductory resource to App Inventor for students aged 11- 14 years. App Inventor is a visual programming environment that allows students to build mobile apps for smartphones and tablets. This resource contains a teacher presentation and worksheet to support the students in their development of a simple 'spot...

This lesson activity introduces children to HTML. They learn that webpages are constructed using HTML and investigate the code used to create an example website. They then use the free 'web remix' software, Mozilla X-Ray Goggles, to change aspects of the page. An extension activity encourages remixing of popular...

In this full scheme of work, designed for a series of two-hour double-lessons, students develop a Mars Rover for NASA based on a standard VEX design. They learn about the components of a robotics system including control units and data communications, and work through a design process towards a prototype. The VEX...

This one-hour lesson examines the design of IoT algorithms, considering how individual devices execute algorithms as code, allowing them to work together. The key aims are to develop computational thinking while raising awareness of the potential for future careers and enterprise.

The lesson starts with the...

This activity helps children to understand the components of computer systems, with a focus on input devices. It links this to their everyday experience, by comparing games controllers, keyboards, microphones and other everyday peripheral devices. The practical part of the activity involves creating programs in...

This activity helps children learn about computer systems and output devices. It relates these systems to those they encounter everyday, from headphones to printers and washing machine motors. They understand that programs make these devices function, and attempt a programming activity using Scratch and Lego WeDo....

This activity from the Computer Science for Fun (CS4FN) team at QMUL is an introduction to algorithms suitable for those in upper primary school. A ‘self-working’ magic trick is shown – this is a trick that works every time, as long as the process is followed exactly. No understanding of the trick is needed by the...

This article discusses using mini battery powered computers to sense, and report back environmental data across a wide area in the Lake District. It talks about some of the ways in which this type of robotThis article discusses using...

Designed for students who have advanced through Scratch and are ready for additional challenge, this resource explores Build Your Own Blocks (BYOB) as a tool for learning modular programming using procedures. 

After examining, briefly, the history of the computer and the Turing Test as a measure of their...

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...

One of the series of Royal Institution Christmas lectures focusing on Bayes’ theorem. The topic of the resource is an investigation into stolen chocolate biscuits so would make an interesting end of term diversion.

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 complete the mission challenge to find out more about the planet Mars.

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

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...