In this lesson, students engage in a historical jigsaw activity focused on westward expansion. The lesson ends with a coding project where students create “postcards” by coding with Twine, expressing the perspectives of different groups experiencing the effects of westward expansion.--

In this lesson sequence, students will work in teams to learn the MakeCode and Micro:Bit Development platform. They’ll develop basic programming skills, implementing input, output, variables, and conditional control structures. At the end of the sequence, students will compete in a “puzzle box” challenge, attempting to create a puzzle using their Micro:Bit, code, and craft supplies and earning points based on how challenging their puzzle is to solve.

This lesson is used to show how conditionals can help filter a dataset. This lesson uses python and a large csv file of Netflix Content to filter through PG-13 movies and output recommendations based on user genre choce. This lesson can be taught using any python IDE and intended to be a live programming demonstration with students. Students will then extend this concept using a dataset of their own choice or other datasets given to them to explore.

In this lesson, students learn the basics of coding for the Micro:Bit using the MakeCode development tool. Students will engage in PRIMM cycles, pair programming, and will begin working on the puzzle box they’ll finish in later lessons by building an “unlocking” animation using display output blocks.This lesson is part of the Micro:Bit Puzzle Box four-lesson sequence. Read about the sequence in the sequence overview, linked here.

Students will investigate the Dakota Access Pipeline and the timeline of events surrounding it. They will collaborate to research the impact this new technology has had, and continues to have, on Native People in that area, as well as create a decision making model to compare and contrast the supporting and opposing perspectives.

This activity will ask students to trace various historical events, as well as state and national laws and their impacts on two different women in the South. Following along with a series of overlapping Twine stories, students will learn how computer programs can be constructed using simple variables and if-then statements to tell complex stories. Moreover, they will analyze how different women experienced historical events differently, leading to widely different points of view about the Civil War. 

This is a lesson that integrates programming in Python or Scratch into 3rd grade math. The focus of this lesson is on polygons.SOL's:Math 3.12The student will a) define polygon; b) identify and name polygons with 10 or fewer sides; and c) combine and subdivide polygons with three or four sides and name the resulting polygon(s).CS 3.2  3.2  The student will construct programs to accomplish tasks as a means of creative expression using a block- or text-based programming language, both independently and collaboratively a. using sequencing; b. using loops (a wide variety of patterns such as repeating patterns or growing patterns); and c. identifying events. 

This lesson takes students through the examination of the poem Remember and its use of figurative language to set the stage for considering how the physical world around us has changed in the past 50 years. Students research a specific local plant, animal, or element of weather and how it has changed over time, and then use Twine to represent their research in a digital story. This lesson culminates with the discussion of whether or not we are doing a good job of listening to Virginia’s natural elements over the past 50 years. This lesson was created through a partnership between CodeVA and the Virginia Tribal Education Consortium (VTEC). 

Following Curiosity and Perseverance on Mars often means roving to places with interesting materials  to study, places away from the initial landing site. In this lesson, students experience the processes involved in engineering a communication protocol. To  reach their goal, students must create a calibrated solution within constraints and  parameters of communicating with a rover on Mars. Students will explore the opportunities and challenges of remote robotics by framing the problem around the idea that scientists and computer scientists must work together to successfully program rovers in remote locations like Mars. Students will also explore the idea that a robot simply follows a set of well defined algorithms.  Students will be provided a set of possible courses that their robot must navigate. Students will code their robot to navigate around the obstacles within the course to arrive at a set location.

Students will build a program to retell a story. Students will include sequencing and debugging, abstraction, patterns, loops, and decomposition skills to effectively tell the story events and include essential story elements.These materials were created by CodeVA in partnership with George Mason University and were funded by the National Science Foundation under Grant Award #1837380

Developed by the Science Museum of Western Virginia, this educator outline is intended to assist in guiding middle school-aged students through various activities using the Rokit Smart robot kit. The Rokit Smart utilizes Arduino, a widely-used open-source environment for programming that enables users to create interactive electronic objects.  Designed through modules, the activities can be grouped to fit after-school, summer camp, or other student enrichment needs.  

Developed by the Science Museum of Western Virginia, this educator outline is intended to assist in guiding middle school-aged students through various activities using the Rokit Smart robot kit. The Rokit Smart utilizes Arduino, a widely-used open-source environment for programming that enables users to create interactive electronic objects.  Designed through modules, the activities can be grouped to fit after-school, summer camp, or other student enrichment needs.  

Developed by the Science Museum of Western Virginia, this educator outline is intended to assist in guiding middle school-aged students through various activities using the Rokit Smart robot kit. The Rokit Smart utilizes Arduino, a widely-used open-source environment for programming that enables users to create interactive electronic objects.  Designed through modules, the activities can be grouped to fit after-school, summer camp, or other student enrichment needs.  

Developed by the Science Museum of Western Virginia, this educator outline is intended to assist in guiding middle school-aged students through various activities using the Rokit Smart robot kit. The Rokit Smart utilizes Arduino, a widely-used open-source environment for programming that enables users to create interactive electronic objects.  Designed through modules, the activities can be grouped to fit after-school, summer camp, or other student enrichment needs.  *Module 4 is meant to be done after Modules 1-3 are completed. 

Before goods are shipped in trucks or containers, they are usually placed in protective packaging and arranged on pallets for efficient transport. Stacking goods on a pallet is a repetitive job that can cause injury to workers. Because of this, many factories that require a high volume of palletization have turned to using robots to perform palletizing tasks. In this lesson plan, students learn how to program a robot to be efficient and effective at this real-world task.

Sensors are part of most modern day technologies. They are integrated into our vehicles, appliances, buildings, and phones. Touch sensors trigger doors to open, motion sensors detect moving vehicles or pedestrians, and heat sensors supply an extra level of safety to our stoves. Sensors are integral to how we interact with technology and are becoming more common in the systems around us.In this lesson, students will explore some of the sensors used in transportation. They will make their own touch sensor and program a sign to display a message or warning when their sensor is triggered.

Teachers and students can see an example of how to put together a Microcontroller Kit with a Temperature sensor that could be used for multiple experiments and shared collectively amongst departments or schools.This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1657263. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Co-authored with Kaitlin Read and Udaya DatlaCan you remember a time you've been sick? Why aren't you still sick? How did you get better?Join Udaya Sree Datla, a doctoral student in translational biology, medicine, and health at Virginia Tech, as she presents Infections, Germs, and Immune Cells. The accompanying lessons and resources provide students with an introduction to germs, the immune system, and the career path of an immunologist, all while emphasizing the importance of handwashing and incorporating a computer science twist. The second lesson capitalizes on an opportunity to integrate computer science by introducing students to the career path of computer programming and constructing a set of step-by-step instructions (algorithms) either independently or collaboratively to sequence the steps of handwashing. These resources are part of the Advancing Computer Science Education Grant to support the implementation of Virginia's Computer Science Standards of Learning in partnership with Floyd County Public Schools with additional support from Virginia Tech's Center for Communicating Science and the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology.  

This lesson examines what people are doing to protect Earth’s clean water supply through the text Young Water Protectors, a story about the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and their efforts to prevent the Dakota Access Pipeline. Students will examine the Standing Rock perspective, and consider what needs to be done to protect our water sources. Students will respond to this activity through writing prompts and represent one of those prompts through programming in Twine.This lesson was created through a partnership between CodeVA and the Virginia Tribal Education Consortium (VTEC). 

imagi offers inclusive, fun, and easy-to-use tech education tools including a platform to learn how to code at school.

imagi Edu is a free website (Chrome) and tablet app (iPad and Android) that includes a Python code editor, classroom management tools, and detailed lesson worksheets and slides! These resources are ideal for kids ages 8-14+ and their educators.