Outreach wth PCS 5th grade

This page represents joint work with Peabody Charter School's 5th grade in order to introduce the students to some basics related to text based computer programming. This curriculum is being jointly developed by myself, Z. Wood, 5th grade teacher, J. Wilcox and Cal Poly student, K. Davis. This work was developed in 2014-2015. This curriculum is focused on using Processing and topics include: 2D coordinates, number sense, and specific programs that explore 5th grade curriculum (the solar system, water cycle, etc.)

For parents, you can download Processing and have your student play with any of this base code (or their own at home).

puzzle shape Week 1 - puzzle handout
Week 1 - starting code
ant Marching ant
ant - starting code (variables)
ellipse puzzle shape Puzzle shape - ellipse puzzle handout
ellipse face Ellipse Face - play with ellipse
house puzzle shape Shape Puzzle - house puzzle
House puzzle - starting code
Comment: in order to mix things up and allow students to `see' more complex code structures, this code includes a reward for when a student has completed the task of moving the pieces to the correct locations. Once the student has the house in the correct place, they can change the boolean variable `anim' to true and see what happens
example Arbitrary shapes - finish creature
Creature - start exercise - finish shape
pumpkin no nose Pumpkin nose practice - start exercise - Add a nose to practice!
cat Create Your own - design a creature
Cat example
planets curriculum: Planetary orbits start - set orbital periods correctly
Reflection: These orbital paths are approximate. The students really enjoyed this - we encouraged them to wait until the white boxes (counting earth years) reached their age and they could reflect on how little Neptune had traversed its orbital path
water cycle curriculum- water cycle
water cycle - starting code
Comment: once the student has the sun correctly modeled, they can change the boolean variable `waterCycle' to true and the system will be enabled
water molecules curriculum: chemistry - water states of matter
chemistry: starting code
ant Winter scene - starting code (methods)
ant intermediate: intoduction to animation/variables
ball velocity intermediate: ball velocity - velocity and if statements
ball velocity: starting code
Comment: students enjoyed this - velocities making more sense
dance party intermediate (velocities): Your turn to dance - velocities
starting code
second option - key press
witch bee game intermediate (velocities 2): Your turn to dance game- velocities and position logic
starting code
handout describing tasks
creature 2 intermediate (positions): Creature Design - positions
starting code
handout describing tasks
Personalize this space game - starting code
Download the background image as well!
Version 2.0 - Personalize this space game - starting code
Download the background image as well!
ball bounce advanced: conditionals - ball bounce - if statements
ball bounce: starting code
Comment: students were not ready for this code - there were too many new concepts... we need to break apart understanding of velocity and if/else

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Contact info:
email: zwood "at" calpoly.edu
Z. Wood home page