This lesson is part of the Virginia K-12 Computer Science Pipeline which is partly funded through a GO Virginia grant in partnership with Chesapeake Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools, and the Loudoun Education Foundation.  In this lesson, students will create examples of gravitational potential and kinetic energy transformations using Scratch.  

This will help students understand the difference between modeling and simulation.  They are able to run a simulation program and see that over time it should get closer to the theorectical probabilty.

NASA eClips Real World:  Food Security -- Monitoring Crops from SpaceVideo Description:  Discover how NASA's Earth-observing satellites gather data to monitor food growth. Dr. Inbal Becker-Reshef describes how mathematics is used to interpret satellite data and describe vegetation and crop yield. Dr. Hannah Kerner shares how algorithms and models use NASA data to describe and predict food supply and food shortages. This work through NASA Harvest provides tools for farmers and governments to describe and predict food security worldwide. Video Length:  5:25.NASA eClipsTM is a suite of online student-centered, standards-based resources that support instruction by increasing STEM literacy in formal and nonformal settings.  These free digital and downloadable resources inform and engage students through NASA-inspired, real-world connections.NASA eClips Real World segments (grades 6-8) connect classroom mathematics to 21st Century careers and innovations.  They are designed for students to develop an appreciation for mathematics through real-world problem solving.

Have you ever thought about how we determine the likelihood of certain events happening? Computational models are mathematical representations of real-world phenomena, while simulations mimic real-world processes. In this lesson, we will discuss computational models and simulations, and then perform a simulation to determine if the mathematical probability of getting heads when we flip a coin matches what we find in real life.