Can you see how far you can catapult a Pom Pom? I want to see! We are going to be building a catapult from scratch. Your goal is to see if you can catapult your Pom Pom at least 3 feet. 

How many food chains are there within this ecosystem? Let’s create some to find out! You will have 5 minutes to create as many food chains as you can with your partner. Please record your food chains on a sheet of paper as you go.

Want to learn about how to describe matter and sort as well as learn about impacts of computing at the kindergarten level?  If so, this fun and easy lesson is for you! 

Students will create an interactive display that classifies animal adaptations via tools such as Google Slides or Jamboard. They will use technological tools to research information about the given animals/adaptations and to create their display.

Students will work in teams or individually to create a new technology that will change the world and be able to connect it to a technological influence from Ancient China or Egypt. 

This is a performance task where students act as a software engineer to create an algorithm for a robotic process of an everyday activity.  Students cooperatively test and revise their algorithms and the have another team sucessfuly complete their algorithm as well.    

Your students are archeologists at the Jamestown Settlement.  The settlement directors (teachers) would like to include information on the new website, and the students have been asked to make a program (ie presentation) on settlers first arriving in Jamestown and their first few years there.  They must target this program to people who are not familiar with the Jamestown settlement to attract their attention and curiosity to want to see more of the settlement and get them to come visit Jamestown.  Their program’s artifact should include pictures of real artifacts, maps, etc to help explain the sequence (ie timeline) of events or tell the story of the beginning of the settlement.  They should include a brief explanation with each slide.  They will present their presentation to peers who will give feedback as potential visitors to Jamestown.

Students will weigh the advantages of cybersecurity in protecting individuals and systems against potential disadvantages of the over-restriction of content and delivery.Students will communicate, verbally and in writing, the advantages or disadvantages of cybersecurity.

You have been offered a job with NASA as an astronomy assistant. Your first task is to create a digital model and fact sheet about the Earth, moon and sun for future fourth graders at Sealston Elementary. Your audience is current third grade students, and you will be hired to share at a Universe Fair based upon your successful completion of the task.

Get a Job! Students will use their persuasive messaging skills to research and promote various computer science fields in the unit.

Students will determine what type of data is needed to answer a question and will use Google Sheets to find patterns. These data skills are needed in many career and academic fields. In addition, students will use input output tables in their daily lives through the use of vending machines, banking, and taking trips to new places. This Performance Task allows them to practice these skills through real-world scenerios. 

Students will analyze a provided math problem with an incorrect answer (bug). Students will demonstrate their understanding of the process by identifying the error, solving the problem correctly and providing an explanation. Math problem solving directly correlates with the step by step process that computer science debugging requires. The purpose of this experience is to provide a jumping off point for a deeper understanding of the Computer Science SOLs. This could be the first time your students are exposed to the vocabulary (algorithm, bug, debugging) and can provide a good foundation of the understanding of the vocabulary in a concrete, low-technology way.

This performance task has the students working as bookkeepers for a P.P.E. Manufacturing Company to see how many P.P.E. they sold by adult and children sizes over a 2-3 month period of time and if their price of production vs cost for consumers to buy was enough that they made a profit or if they needed to make adjustments. This performance task has the students using PEMDAS to better understand how Algorithms and Programming are used in our everyday lives. 

You are planning a special trip to a place you have always wanted to visit. You will need to know the weather trends for a specific time of year so that you will know what to pack. Students will create a presentation to organize their packing that should include a line graph included with data collected about local weather and communicate what they should pack and why based on their findings. Students will need to get feedback from peers if their conclusions for they need to pack align with the weather observed.  Students will use either a digital format or print format to predict what to pack for a trip of their choosing for two weeks. Students will choose a location, make a prediction, collect weather data, and analyze their results with a graph. Lastly, they will present to classmates to convince them to travel to their location and what to pack. 

Students will create an artifact using computing systems to model the attributes and behaviors associated with a concept (e.g., day and night, animal life cycles, plant life cycles). Students are scientists (botanists, zoologists), who just found a new plant/animal in their chosen ecosystem. Their job is to introduce their new plant/animal to the scientific world! They will create a stop motion video to show their new plant/animal's life cycle.

Your task as an astronomer is to model the solar system using technology.  You and your crew are just one group that have been asked by NASA to chart the solar system in order to create a simulation model for future astronauts. After you have accomplished this, you will present your model to the Director of NASA. They have given you several requirements for the simulation. Your simulation should include a map of the solar system that shows the appropriate distance, location, size and relation to the sun amongst the eight planets. You and your team can use a variety of options to complete your simulation. These include Google Suite tools (such as Google Slides, Google Docs, Jamboard, or any equivalent tool such as Microsoft Office), Coding resources (Scratch.edu, tynker.edu) or 3D printing software (Tinkercad) to present. Your map should also include a short descriptive paragraph for each planet explaining its distance, location, size, and at least 3 facts about the planet. If creating a video, you will still want to include descriptions for the planets as well as the three facts.  Presentation to “NASA Directors” must answer the question: how does this simulation/model help future scientists?