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...

GCSE Computing – The Teacher’s Unofficial Guide This guide, which supports the OCR GCSE, covers how to teach the course. Separate sections look at: • Written examination • Practical investigation • Programming project It is not officially linked to the exam board, but they have ‘adopted’ it as their official,...

Produced in 2015, these resources look at the development of encoding messages and how technology and science has developed to allow us to keep messages secure. Looking at unintuitive quantum properties of light, Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principal and entanglement, students will see how keys can be shared to ensure...

This Barefoot Computing resource for upper-primary computing lessons uses the creation of a Scratch maths quiz as a basis for learning about algorithms using selection.

Children are asked to create an algorithm that...

This Barefoot Computing resource builds on the ‘Maths quiz with selection’ learning activities which should be undertaken first.

It involves improving an existing Scratch maths quiz and adding score-keeping using...

In this Rapid Router activity, children progress from block-based programming to the textual environment of Python. In doing so they learn about the nature of text-based coding, including the need for precise syntax and how it is structured.

The progression is handled gently, with code compared in both...

One of the units from the Nuffield Primary Solutions in Design and Technology in which students produce a multimedia presentation using software they are familiar with from previous ICT lesson time. The presentation content must first be researched and the presentation itself needs to be attractive and easy to use...

This activity introduces children to simulations - modelling or acting out real-world, or maybe imaginary, situations. Linking to the teaching of space, it asks what factors need to be considered when simulating the solar system. Out of these, the children then decide what the most important things to include in...

A useful handbook for setting up a student-led STEM club, with exemplars from three schools.

It is increasingly recognised that giving students opportunities to act as ambassadors and mentors for STEM subjects outside of school can be of great benefit to the individual, their institution, and to the broader...

This activity uses satellite images of the Earth to show how a glacier has changed over almost three decades. Children are asked to measure the glacier to find out how much it has changed in size and to compare false-colour images to suggest how this helps us find out more about environmental change. Guidance on...

In this activity students take on the role of Earth observation scientists submitting a request for an image they would like for their research. This gives them the opportunity to consider the possibilities of pictures taken from orbit (and the limitations) and to write scientifically for a specific audience. It...

In this activity students take on the role of Earth observation scientists submitting a request for an image they would like for their research. This gives them the opportunity to consider the possibilities of pictures taken from orbit (and the limitations) and to write scientifically for a specific audience. It...