Category Archives: Computer Science

At the Kingston meeting, we looked at a Year 6 unit in Scratch to teach and assess the following KS2 content:

design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems;

solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts

use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs;

work with variables and various forms of input and output

use logical reasoning to explain how some simple algorithms work and to detect and correct errors in algorithms and programs

The YouTube videos below show how a ‘Times Table Quiz’ could be taught and assessed:

The following PowerPoint may be helpful to structure the unit:

This post has a link to the current KS2 Activities.

We looked at the ‘understand computer networks, including the internet … ‘ bullet from the content statements. I handed out the following notes and we did some of the activities:

The KS2 spreadsheet with suggested units, yearly plan, resources etc is given below:

This video explains the spreadsheet given above:

This playlist shows how you could teach the yr6 timestable quiz:

This playlist shows how you could teach the virtual fishtank unit:

The following guide outlines one way of writing a good programming unit:

The following guide is for writing a simulation/modelling unit:

The draft computing curriculum at KS2

This session focussed on: “describe how internet search engines find and store data” from the KS2 section of the draft curriculum document (page 154).

The PowerPoint below is what we used. You can click on menu to download it and change for your needs.

We had a quick look at making a web page using notepad. We created a file and saved it with a .html extension.

Kingston Meeting 1 – Thur 6th June 2013

The DRAFT proposals

• One aspect of the school curriculum
• Links to Maths (geometry) and D&T (record, develop, communicate designs)

• Computational Thinking (Problem-Solving)

Aims are very different:

• Focus on Computer Science
• Algorithms
• Repeated practice of writing programs

Subject Content:

• Last two bullet points in KS1 and KS2, encompass ICT

What the terms mean:
Algorithm

• A precise description to solve a problem eg baking a cake, map directions
• Have a go ……..
• Giving precise insturctions is important because computers are literal

Another algorithm:

1. Start with a box called sum and a box called count
2. Go through the following steps until you have no more numbers
3. Add the number to what’s already in sum
4. Add 1 to the number already in count
5. When there are no more numbers, divide the number in sum by the number in count and that is your answer

use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs; work with variables

• Sequence is following steps in order
• Selection is using IF in programs to only carry out certain steps
• Repetition is using REPEAT to carry out a series of steps more than once
• Variables can be thought of as post-its to hold temporary values

Some resources you may consider:

• Logo – this is a free version but there are many others, with slightly different syntax
• Scratch – A fish tank unit of work, a game unit of work
• Small Basic
• Raspberry Pi
• PowerPoint and using VBA to make a quiz

Understand computer networks including the internet
What happens when you ask for a webpage … (the previous post explains this is more detail)

You can use tracert google.co.uk in cmd.exe to see the different routers that a page gets sent through.

Draw eyePi: Feedback helps improve the commands you issue so environments such as Scratch, Logo, SmallBasic are good for that.

The Proposed National Curriulum – some highlights from it

You can download the pdf from this link, at the DfE website. Observations from our group discussion included that it was good to be teaching some programming; it was going back to basics; it may be a step back; it may be inaccessible to other teachers in the school; some of it is already taught via roamers/beebots.

The difference between ICT and Computing is essentially that ICT is about using software effectively and Computing is about learning to create software. Some people describe it as the difference between reading and being able to write.

We looked at some of the words, phrases and descriptions from the Computing section: algorithms; sequence; repetition, variables; and how the internet works.

What is an algorithm?

An algorithm is a recipe that can be followed precisely and will always give the same results. It is a set of steps that can be taken to provide the same predictable outcome.

Why do we need algorithms?

Because computers are very literal and can only do exactly what they are told, in the order they are told to do it.

 A well-known example:

‘Draw a square’ .. could be interpreted in lots of different ways by a person eg draw a shape in the sand, use pencil and paper and ruler and protactor or compass, just sketch one quickly on the white board, drag tables around to form a square shape

However, an algorithm – a precise recipe – could be:

1. Take a new piece of paper
2. Place a dot in the centre
3. From the dot, draw a line of 5cm
4. From where you end up, draw a line of 5cm at a right-angle to the previous line
5. From where you end up, draw a line of 5cm at a right-angle to the previous line
6. From where you end up, draw a line of 5cm at a right-angle to the previous line

When these instructions are implemented in a computer program, we can make use of sequence, repetition and variables in:

• Logo
• SmallBasic
• Scratch

And this looks like….

Another algorithm – what does it do?

1. start with a countOfNumbers = 0 and sumOfNumbers = 0
2. if you have a number:
3. add 1 to countOfNumbers
4. add number to sumOfNumbers
5. keep repeating steps 3 and 4 until you have no more numbers
6. divide the sumOfNumbers by the countOfNumbers
7. print results

Understand computer networks including the internet
How pages appear on your screen:

1. your browser (internet explorer, Chrome, Firefox) makes a request for a page, file, image, video when you type in an address
2. this page sits on a server (another computer) and this could be located anywhere in the world
3. when the server recieves a request for the page, it sends it to your browser
4. the page is broken up into small packets of data
5. these packets are sent from 1 router to another (these are called hops)
6. this continues until the packets reach your browser
7. your browser pieces the packets of data together and displays them

You can see this happening using tracert google.com in the cmd window. This will display all the ‘hops’ taken to get to the server. Each address is unique and is actually a set of numbers (eg 173.194.34.105 is google.com). You can type in 173.194.34.105 into the address bar and it will take you to google.com

Sharing:

1. Can make instructions concrete by getting children to act them out first
2. Sony Bloggie
3. Transum for some online logo and some challenges
4. iPad managment – trollies are a necessity
5. Musicians get the best out of GarageBand
6. AppShed
7. Raspberry Pi after-school club running at East Sheen Primary

The proposed National Curriculum has added a subject called computing and removed the subject previously known as ICT. The DFE has published the revised proposals for all subjects here.

Looking through the KS1 and KS2 Computing sections, it is clear that many schools already do a lot of this – especially with the use of Beebots and other programmable devices.

Are you looking forward to it?