Solve a maze ... from a robot's point of view. In the lesson, your scholars build a small, simple maze from cardboard and then find a route from the start point to the finish point. They write an algorithmic process that a robot could...

Experiment with 3-D glasses to learn about stereo images and virtual reality. Scholars look at various images to determine if green/red or red/cyan glasses are preferable. They determine distances between images using the 3-D glasses and...

Building on young mathematicians' prior knowledge of three-sided shapes, this lesson series explores the defining characteristics of different types of triangles. Starting with a shared reading of the children's book The Greedy...

When you have to flow, you have to flow. The lesson introduces class members to microfluidic devices and their uses in medicine. They watch a short video on how the diameter affects the rate of flow. The worksheet has individuals...

Radio signals transmitted to Pluto take five hours to reach their destination! In these two activities, young scientists explore data communication in space. In activity one, pupils learn how data is gathered and sent back to Earth....

Compression, the process computers use to store information, is the focus of a resource that presents two different stories that describe the concept of compression by eliminating repeated letters and replacing them with a...

Introduce your class to encoding text. Pairs work together to create a protocol to send text prior to learning ASCII encoding. Groups then collaborate to send and translate ASCII codes creating a formatted text message. 

Let me break it down for you! Introduce your class to a way of breaking up a complicated task into its component pieces. Individuals draw a complex figure using JavaScript and then break it down to help determine the...

Always check your assumptions when interpreting data and data visualizations. That's the take away from this exercise. Class members examine a failed project that looks at search trends to predict flu outbreaks and consider the...

How do you determine the things you must do during your day from those that you want to do, or are willing to put off? Time management and prioritizing effectively are the focus of this life skills lesson, which includes worksheets,...

Learners explore the use of computers in the military.  In this lesson, students read an article on plans the Air Force is making to increase their use of computers to fight terrorism, then participate in a discussion on the...

This optional lesson introduces the class to the idea of a minimum spanning tree. The activity focuses on determining an algorithm that will find the most efficient path in a network to transfer data. 

Pairs work through two scenarios that require them to generate an algorithm. The first activity requires pairs to define a common language to use; the second comes with the language. The pairs then must determine how to code the...

Use hosiery to teach computer science. Scholars use socks to develop a set of algorithms. They find ways to find a particular sock from a set and ways to sort socks. Finally, they use their algorithms to consider time complexity.

Imagine drawing with zeros and ones. The third instructional activity in a unit of 15 introduces the class to creating black and white images. Pairs get together to create an encoding scheme in order to make these images. They...

A bit optional. How do computers transmit in the real world? Pupils research a device that is used in transmitting bits, then individuals create a poster that presents the information they have learned about their device. 

How many colors do you know? The instructional activity teaches scholars how digital devices use binary and hexadecimal representations to store colors. They learn how millions of colors are available on these devices.

Travel the world from the comfort of your classroom with a lesson that features Google Earth. High schoolers follow a series of steps to locate places all over the earth with sets of coordinates. Additionally, they measure the distance...

Accurate weather forecasting is something we take for granted today, making it easy to forget how complex it can be to predict the weather. Learn more about the terms and symbols used to forecast the weather with an earth science lesson...

Calories are not tiny creatures that sew your clothes tighter every night, but what are they? A science lesson, presented at multiple levels, has learners experiment with heat, heat transfer, and graph the function over time....

Commercial advertising—we can't get away from it, but do we realize just how often we are being advertised to? With this lesson, scholars analyze mass media to identify how its techniques influence our daily lives. Learners browse...

That's one complicated address book! To understand the need for a system that keeps track of addresses, pupils trying to find the IP address of their classmates. Then individuals change their IP addresses, which leads to research...

Different varieties of Christmas trees provide an interesting way to combine social studies, science, math, and technology. Class members not only research the history of the Christmas tree holiday tradition, they compare and...

Teach basic logic using Boolean operators. Young computer scientists learn about the operators NOT, AND, and OR, and how they can be expressed using Boolean notation, logic gates, or truth tables. Along the way, they learn about half...