Computational thinking and programming

key stage 2

Subject content for KS2

Pupils should be taught to:

• design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems; solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts

• use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs; work with variables and various forms of input and output

• use logical reasoning to explain how some simple algorithms work and to detect and correct errors in algorithms and programs

Decomposing problems

“solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts” - Subject content KS2

Decomposition is the process of breaking a problem down into smaller problems so that ultimately the bigger problem can be solved (and explained clearly to someone else or to a computer).

Sequence, repetition & selection

“use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs” - Subject content KS2

Sequence: putting instructions in an order where each one is executed one after the other

Repetition: one or more instructions are repeated a number of times or until a condition is met or the program is stopped

Selection: instructions are executed depending on whether a particular condition is met

Selection lies at the heart of the ‘intelligence’ of a computer program.

Activity #1 Hour of Code

Working in pairs, follow the Hour of Code beginners tutorial. Your challenge is to complete this in 30 mins!

http://learn.code.org/hoc/1

NB: This tutorial introduces the key programming concepts of sequence, repetition and selection

Debugging at KS2

“design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals” - Subject content KS2

This builds upon children’s experience of debugging at KS1. As their programs become more sophisticated the debugging becomes more challenging.

Activity #2 Hungry Monkey 1

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/23390939/

Can you make the monkey sprite move left and right when the left and right arrow keys are pressed?

Activity #3 Hungry Monkey 2

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/23390750/

Can you make the monkey jump to catch the bananas?

Variables

“work with variables” - Subject content KS2

Variables are containers for data. They enable us to store, retrieve or change data. A variable could be used in a game to keep track of a user’s score or to remember a player’s name.

Activity #4 Hungry Monkey 3

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/23390032/

Can you make the score board work to keep track of the number of bananas monkey has caught?

Subject content for KS2

Pupils should be taught to:

• design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems; solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts

• use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs; work with variables and various forms of input and output

• use logical reasoning to explain how some simple algorithms work and to detect and correct errors in algorithms and programs

Follow up from today:

Turvey K. et al. (2014) ‘Programming and computational thinking’ in Primary Computing and ICT, Knowledge, Understanding and Practice, London: Sage.

Before the next EV682 session:

Task: Research the systems and procedures for safeguarding and wellbeing in your school context.