This is a performance task where students explore CS concepts, pseudocode, and flowcharts through the lens of order of operations on day 1 and design a math homework helper app on day 2.

The goal of this activity is to build critical thinking skills and excitement for Computer Science / Computational Thinking, while laying a foundation of fundamental programming concepts. By scaffolding basic concepts like sequencing and algorithms in an unplugged activity, students who are intimidated by computers can still build a foundation of understanding. In this lesson, students will learn how to develop an algorithm and encode it into a program.By "programming" one another to draw pictures, students experience some of the core concepts of programming in a fun and accessible way. The class will start by having students view a video of a simple program demonstrating how to develop instructions for building a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Students will start with simple shapes, and progress to the coding of a specific drawing that other students will then try to replicate (“running the program”). If there is a desire to have a more of a Math slant on the lesson, the drawing could take place on graph paper. Students would then use the coordinates to complete the drawing. 

The goal of this activity is to solidify students' understanding of functions: Input/Independent Variable/Domain → Output/Dependent Variable/Range in math and relate that to functions in CS.

In computer science, developing programs involves planning. This planning may include representing algorithms and programs graphically with symbols, like in a flowchart, or writing, like using pseudocode. Pseudocode is not a programming language, but a simple way of describing a set of programming instructions. This practice sheet offers the opportunity to take pseudocode and flowchart information and interpret the outcomes.

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.