OVERVIEW

Activity Overview:

Students will use peer collaboration, engineering, problem solving, & reflection, when given a set of Funny Gears & Bricks, to design an amusement park.

Meta description

• Subject Area: Computer Science, Reading/Language Arts, Engineering
• Grade Level : K-2
• Computer Science Domains:
  • Computing Systems, Data Analysis, Algorithms and Programming
• Computer Science Principles:
  • Fostering an Inclusive Computing Culture, Collaborating Around Computing, Recognizing and Defining Computational Problems, Developing and Using Abstractions, Testing and Refining Computational Artifacts, Communicating About Computing
• Materials:
  • Funny Gears & Bricks Set
• Considerations:
  • Reviewing this vocabulary before you begin may help build background knowledge to aid in students’ successes: power brick, bricks/gears, record, design, detailed, algorithm, reflection

Lesson Plan

Overview

Students will use peer collaboration, engineering, problem solving, & reflection, when given a set of Funny Gears & Bricks, to design an amusement park.

ASSESSMENT PRE/POST-TEST

Can you write a detailed algorithm describing your amusement park?

OBJECTIVES

Students will collaborate respectfully together, to accomplish the task of building a gear amusement park that turns, then write an algorithm describing their formation, trade algorithms with another group, test the algorithms, then reflect upon their work.

CATCH/HOOK

Help! These bears and monkeys are SOOOOO bored! Work together with your group to create an amusement park for them to ride. BUT make sure you pay close attention, because you’ll need to record your steps as you write a detailed algorithm so another group can follow your directions to make the exact same amusement park you did. Good luck!

ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

Purposefully design groups, pass out materials, and demonstrate how to place a few bricks/gears together to build students’ background understanding. Talk through the algorithm template so they know which picture goes where and how to make sure it’s detailed enough to trade with another group. Let students get to work! Walk around and monitor progress. Guide work and answer questions as needed.

Supplements

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REVIEW

Have the groups come back together and discuss today’s work together as a class. Begin with a turn & talk, then share out with everyone. This will help give students a good review, ideas, and vocabulary to use when completing their reflection.

STANDARDS