This resource introduces pupils to the uses of 1D barcodes and 2D barcodes (Quick response or QR codes). Pupils are asked to research the 2 types of barcodes, their advantages and disadvantages. They are then directed to websites to create their own 1D and 2D barcodes. The tasks in the resource could be used in...

This resource was designed by The Economist Educational Foundation to support PA’s Raspberry Pi competition 2020. However, it can also be used by schools that are...

This short activity for primary school computing uses art to introduce the concept of abstraction. During a ‘guess what’ game the children are asked to represent a word on a card using drawing or modelling – in doing so they unconsciously concentrate on just the most important aspects of the idea they are...

This resource consists of a ten page student workbook and some associated resources. The workbook is designed to be used with Key Stage 3 students over a number of lessons, to introduce them to the concept of algorithms, to make them used to following instructions given as an algorithm and to start producing their...

This cross-curricular computing / ICT activity helps children to understand decomposition. They choose a poem and create an animation using Scratch; this encourages them to think deeply about the poem, and to explore the tools available. Children break the poem into pieces (decomposition), then plan the animation...

This is one of a set of resources designed to allow pupils to develop their knowledge and skills in computing, art and design.  This resource, which could be delivered across two separate lessons, involves using software on...

This activity introduces the idea of remote sensing and some of the difficulties of obtaining images from orbit by asking students to match photographs taken from the ground with early astronaut photographs.

In this lesson pupils will use audio editing software and apply their skills to record and edit an interview with friends or family members about their experiences of technology when they were growing up.

Pupils will develop an understanding of the reasons for interviewing and how to carry out, record and...

Made up of two complementary activities, these resources from the CS4FN team go deeper into theory about search algorithms.

The first activity involves the teacher leading a magic trick using some normal playing cards. In the subsequent explanation of the trick, students are asked to consider the pseudocode...

This longer-duration activity involves prototyping a low-power lighting system. It could be used in an off-timetable workshop or across a series of lessons.

Students are challenged to work through the whole design process, and to place a micro-controller (in this case a BBC micro:bit) at the centre of the...

In this resource learners will use Scratch, to debug and then improve a program to move Autosub6000 around the ocean floor, photographing samples found.   The remote movement will be controlled through a keyboard’s arrow keys initially and then the children will be challenged to create a program which will move...

This activity, suitable for a multi-lesson sequence or a single extended session, challenges students to design and prototype a simple motion-sensing alarm. The device is intended to prevent theft or the accidental picking-up of a bag.

Motion is sensed using the accelerometer built-in to the BBC micro:bit,...

This lesson or enrichment activity investigates recursive algorithms using Fibonacci series.

It begins with an engaging maths magic trick ‘how to fake a super brain’ that uses a special property of Fibonacci numbers, and proceeds to look at the Golden Ratio in nature and its ‘beautiful’ properties.

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This unplugged activity, from the CS4FN team at Queen Mary University of London, helps learners to understand variable assignment and operations. They use the idea of variables as boxes as the basis of a group activity, developing their use of logical thinking to trace variables through programs.

The...