Before you start - What is computational thinking? 

This unit of work is designed to help develop your students as computational thinkers. But what is computational thinking? 

“Computational thinking allows us to take a complex problem, understand what the problem is and develop possible solutions. We can then present these solutions in a way that a computer, a human, or both, can understand.”

(BBC Bitesize)

 

It does not mean ‘thinking like a computer’ as computers cannot think for themselves... yet! 

This video from Computing at School (CAS) explains more about what computational thinking is, how it fits into the computing curriculum and why it’s important that we develop these skills in our students. 

CAS have also developed ‘Computational thinking - A guide for teachers’. It describes a framework that helps explain what computational thinking is, describes pedagogic approaches for teaching it and gives ways to assess it.

 

Computational thinking is also woven into the Progression Pathways assessment tools from CAS, a structure which we have used as the framework for the plans and resources we have written. 

There are two versions of Progression Pathways, which contain the same statements, but organised into different strands. 

You can find the three and six strand versions of the document in our Subject leader resources folder, along with other resources to accompany them. Both versions of Progression Pathways have abbreviations for computational thinking concepts next to each statement in the grid (a key can be found at the bottom of the document) to show where opportunities lie for teachers to bring in these concepts when teaching different parts of the curriculum. 

CAS have also produced the poster shown below (download link requires free CAS Barefoot account) as part of their free Barefoot computing resources. It shows very nicely the different concepts and approaches that make up a computational thinker. Things that your students will be working on during this unit of work, we’ll refer back to this a lot through the following six lessons. 

 

 

Introduction

Begin the lesson by explaining that you have received a very important message from what appears to be an alien species, it reads as follows:

 

 

Decide how you want to reveal your alien persona! But once you have, reiterate that they will be faced with a number of varied puzzles and challenges in the coming lessons. Each week, if tasks are completed successfully, they will unlock a four-digit code that they must upload to the aliens to prove their success. 

Collecting all six codes will ultimately prove the worthiness of the human race to the aliens.

The aliens have already sent lots of 4-digit numbers to test us, but only one is correct, the others are fake. Choose the wrong number and the aliens will know and you will fail the challenge.

The first code number, and clue to the true envelope is hidden in this completed puzzle. It won’t be apparent at first, so to begin with, ask the students to look at the puzzle and tell you, the alien agent, everything you notice about the grid. 

 

 

Gather all their ideas and observations about the grid, without giving any feedback to their ideas - there is no right or wrong answer at this point. 

Tell them that although you are an alien agent, in the time you have spent on Earth you have come to quite like humans, and especially this class, so you are prepared to help them succeed by giving them some strategies for success in problem solving. We call this computational thinking. 

 

Explain what this means:

“Computational thinking allows us to take a complex problem, understand what the problem is and develop possible solutions. We can then present these solutions in a way that a computer, a human, or both, can understand.”

(BBC Bitesize)

 

Then take a look at the CAS Barefoot poster and go through the concepts and approaches listed. Have you heard of any of these terms before? Can you think where you might already use them? 

 

 

The puzzle we looked at had already been completed, so perhaps we need to go back a step and look at a version that is not complete. For your first challenge you need to solve the grid, this will give you your first 4 digit code number.

Take a look at this version and see if you can come up with any ideas for how to solve it. Does looking at the first challenge grid help you?  You can download and print (in colour) this sheet or just get them to draw it out. 

 

 

Give them time to come up with ideas or have a go at solving it before giving any clues. 

The puzzle is a version of Sudoku, just with shapes instead of numbers, but the rules are the same: each row, column and box (shown by the thicker lines) must contain only one of each shape. Some children may be familiar with Sudoku and might recognise the layout, to others it will be new. 

Give further support in explaining the rules to those that need it. 

Here is the solution to the grid. 

 

 

On the back of the worksheet is a challenge for them to create their own Sudoku challenge for a friend, which in itself takes some thinking about.

 

 

Ask them to plan it out on a small whiteboard or scrap paper until they have a solution that works with the Sudoku rules (one of each letter in every column, row and box). They can then place 5 of the correct letter (at least one of each) onto the grid on the worksheet for someone else to have a go at solving

 

The first code number

So our shape grid is complete.

 

 

But still no number is obvious! Tell them that the four digit code they need is generated from top line of this grid. Do any of the symbols give us clues to the number? 

If they are still struggling, tell them that as they have done well with the puzzle so far, you have permission to reveal one more clue. Each shape represents a number.

 

If  = 4 and each column/row and box = 14 what numbers do the other shapes represent?

The number of sides of each shape is the number required for each box, so 

What is the 4 digit code on line 1? (4613!)

 

Tell them they have unlocked the code for their second set of challenges!

 

Main task

Here are your next set of challenges, explain all three challenges below and then divide you class into three groups and give them one challenge each. Ask them to work in 2s or 3s within each group, depending on the resources you have available.  They can then rotate round onto the other challenges in the time available. 

 

 

Decoding

This challenge is about using initiative, pattern recognition and research skills.  Students will need access to some way of translating the words, such as a computer or tablet and a translation app like Google translate. Don’t make this immediately obvious or available, but have it ready for them to use if requested. 

Your first class challenge revealed a shape and colour code on line 1 of the puzzle. You must put all of the following word lists into that same pattern order: yellow, green, red, blue

But it’s not that easy, first you need to decode the lists:

• Rojo, verde, amarillo, azul
• groen, geel, blauw, rood 
• rot, grün, gelb, blau 
• Glas, coch, gwyrdd, melyn
• Plava, crvena, žuta, zelena 
• Ophuzi, oluhlaza okotshani, obomvu, oluhlaza okwesibhakabhaka

 

Solutions

• Amarillo, verde, Rojo, azul (Spanish)
• Geel, groen, rood, blauw (Dutch)
• Gelb, grün, rot, blau (German)
• Melyn, gwyrdd, coch, glas (Welsh)
• Žuta, zelena, crvena, plava (Croatian)
• Ophuzi, obuluhlaza, obomvu, obuluhlaza (Zulu)

 

One handed sort

Test your strategy and dexterity with this one - Have a collection of multicoloured objects (counters, cubes etc) in a dish. A stopwatch or tablet with a timer app can be used to time their sorting attempts. 

• Take a look at the jumbled pile of objects on the table in front of you. You must sort them into coloured piles as quickly as possible. The only rule is that you can only use your weaker (non-writing) hand to touch the cubes. 

Use a stopwatch or online timer to time your attempts 

• Who was fastest?
• How could you be quicker?
• What techniques did you use?

 

 

 

Memory test 

Each group will need a tablet or computer to complete these online tasks. Check the website links work on your school network before the lesson and requesting access to the URLs if needed.

If you are to work alongside us you will need a strong mind and the ability to remember complex instructions. These tasks should thoroughly test your memory. 

 

On your computer or tablet, go to:

• tinyurl.com/alienmemorygame1 - The classic 'Simon Says' game. Follow the flashing colour pattern and repeat it back to the machine.

Original full link: https://www.helpfulgames.com/subjects/brain-training/copycat.html

 

• tinyurl.com/alienmemorygame2 - Watch the colours appear in the grid, put the same colours and pattern onto the grid when it's gone.

Original full link: https://www.improvememory.org/wp-content/games/patternmemory2_e_fullscreen.htm

 

• tinyurl.com/alienmemorygame3 - A simple version of the classic matching pairs game with 8 cards. Find the pairs before the timer runs out.

Original full link: https://www.purplemash.com/?~c3c9NjIwNTk2NyZzZz1mNzVmZDk1YjVmNDc3MDU5ODlkMjcwNmUyMGY3MWI2OCZjdXJyZW50U3RhZ2VJbmRleD0=

 

• tinyurl.com/alienmemorygame4 - A harder version of the classic matching pairs game with 16 cards. Find the pairs before the timer runs out.

Original full link: https://www.purplemash.com/?~c3c9NjIwNjAxNiZzZz1lNTg3MjM4OGJlODQ1YmM5Y2U4ZTkzYjA1ZjJlZDcwMCZjdXJyZW50U3RhZ2VJbmRleD0=

 

Plenary

Take a look at the computational thinking poster with the class. 

 

Ask the students:

• What is computational thinking?
• Which of these concepts do you think you have covered today?
• Which of the approaches did you use?
• How did your team help you today? 

 

Revisit the lesson objectives and ask the children to consider how successful they have been. 

Finally, it’s time to upload the code you found today to the aliens to see if they accept it! Go to this link and enter the code number from the problem at the start of the lesson (4613):

 

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/260034482/#fullscreen

 

If you would like to make your own version of the Scratch project or edit it for your class you will need to sign into Scratch, open the project from the link above, click the ‘See inside’ button and then the ‘remix’ button. This will make your own editable version of the project.