Jill Snyder
The Wheatlands Elementary School
Oswego CUSD #308
IIT Research Mentor: Dr. Cindy Hood
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant No.
EEC-0502174. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this
material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science
Foundation.
Overview
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Science/Technology
4th grade Regular Education Classroom
Approx. 5 hour long lessons
Objective
 Content: Students should be able to create a
simple model using the computer to perform a
pre-determined series of instructions, know
the basic parts of a computer and what they
do and explain the basic concepts of
computer programming.
Overview
 Inquiry/Problem Solving: Students will
construct knowledge of computer concepts
and parts through exploration and guided
instruction. Students will be encouraged to
work out on their own and with their peers.
Instruction will be limited in certain activities
and questions asked by the students will be
answered with another question to prompt
them to think of things differently and come to
the solution.
Overview
 Design: Students will design a scenario
then write the instructions to create that
scenario on the computer program ALICE.
Students will be graded on creativity and
how the result of their instructions match
their original intention
Overview
 Ethics: Students will explore a current ethical issue in
computer science, global education. Because the
students will be using a program freely available on
the internet they will discuss the complications that
come up when the question is asked, ‘What happens
where there are gaps in availability of information
between rich and poor communities?,’ ‘How will this
affect learning and teaching in the future and should
it?’ Students will also report on their design project by
acting as if they are the local chapter of a scientist
association and discuss the ethics of truth in reporting
and how interpretation of data can effect results.
Standards
 Illinois Learning Standards
- STATE GOAL 11: Understand the processes of scientific
inquiry and technological design to investigate questions,
conduct experiments and solve problems.
- 11.A.2e Report and display the results of individual and group
investigations.
 STATE GOAL 13: Understand the relationships among science,
technology and society in historical and contemporary
contexts.
 13.A.2c Explain why keeping accurate and detailed records is
important
Background
 Basic understanding of computer programming
 Basic understanding of how computer programs
are run by the system
 Basic understanding of scientific inquiry
processes
 Basic understanding of ethics as it pertains to
computer science and education
 Basic understanding of the program ALICE
Examples
 List of activities:
 ‘How do You Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly
Sandwich?’
 ‘Computers: What Have They Done for You
Lately?’
 ‘Go ask ALICE’
Activity 1- PB&J
 Directions: You have a 5 minute time limit
to complete the parts of this test. Carefully
read all of the parts of the test before
doing anything. In order to ensure the
accuracy of this exam, you should not use
more than the allotted time of 5 minutes.
Good Luck!!
Activity 1- PB&J
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1. Write the name of the month that begins with the letter ‘D’ in the top left hand corner of your test paper.
2. Write the answer to the following multiplication problem directly underneath the date on your test
paper--6 X 5 = ?
3. Write your name and today’s date—month-day-year in the top right hand corner of your test paper.
4. Add 15 to the answer you got in part #2, and write this new total directly underneath your answer for
part #3.
5. In the lower left hand corner of your test paper, write the names of your favorite singer and your
favorite group.
6. Just above your answer to part #5, write "This test is very easy."
7. In the lower right hand corner of your test paper, draw a rectangle and inside the rectangle draw a five
pointed star. The size of these drawings is not important.
8. Directly above your answer to part #7, draw a row of three small circles. Once again, size is not
important.
9. Write the name of the first president of the United States on the back of your test paper anywhere you
choose. If you don't know who this is, write your own name instead.
10.Write the name of any country that begins with the letter "I" directly underneath you answer to part #2.
11. Take the number of dwarfs in the Snow White story and add it to the number of bears in the
Goldilocks story. Divide by 2. Write this total in the approximate center of your test paper.
12. Think of a number between 1 and 50. Double that number. Add 20. Add 6. Subtract 17. Subtract 9.
Divide by 2. Write this number on your test paper directly underneath your answer to part #11.
13. Now that you have carefully read all of the parts so far, and you have not carried out any of the actual
work, skip the next 2 parts and go back and only complete part #3.
14. The name of the first president of the United States is George Washington. He was president from
1789 until 1797. Add the 2 dates together to see if the total is less than 5000.
15. You should not be reading the end of the exam before the beginning of the exam, but now that you
are here, you have just wasted some of the time you may need to complete the test.
Activity 1 - PB & J
CATEGORY
4
3
2
1
Materials
All materials needed were
listed and
appropriate to the
needs of the lab.
All materials needed were
listed and most
were appropriate to
the needs of the
lab.
Most materials need for
the lab were listed
and all/most were
appropriate to the
needs of the lab.
Many materials were not
listed or
inappropriate,
which contributed
to a poor product .
Procedure
Procedure is neat with
clear and complete
instructions,
including
measurements and
labeling for all
components.
Procedure is neat with
clear and complete
instructions,
including
measurements and
labeling for most
components.
Procedure is not clear
and has incomplete
instructions but
includes
measurements and
labeling for all
components.
Procedure is not clear
and has incomplete
instructions and
only includes
measurements and
labeling for most
components.
Sandwich
Sandwich is neat,
includes all
required ingredients
and can be held
without getting
condiments on your
hands.
Sandwich is somewhat
neat, includes all
required ingredients
and can be held
without getting
condiments on your
hands.
Sandwich is somewhat
neat, includes most
required ingredients
and can be held
without getting
condiments on your
hands.
Sandwich is messy,
inludes most
required ingredients
and cannot be held
without getting
condiments on your
hands.
Modification/Testing
Clear evidence of
troubleshooting,
testing, and
refinements based
on data trial run.
Clear evidence of
troubleshooting,
testing and
refinements but still
shows some flaws
from trial run.
Some evidence of
troubleshooting,
testing and
refinements.
Little evidence of
troubleshooting,
testing or
refinement.
Activity 2 Computers
 Part 1- Students will learn about the parts of a
computer and their functions. They will do this
through instruction using Power Point, handouts
and games.
 Part 2- Students will model a computer through
role playing. Students will play the parts of the
computer and be asked to ‘run’ a program
assigned by the teacher, this will most likely be
making a craft of some sort.
Activity 2 Computers
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Mind Reader
Wish you could read someone’s mind? The directions here won’t be able to teach
you to do that, but they can make someone else believe that you can!! All you have
to do is follow the simple steps provided here and you can have people believing that
you can read minds!!
Ask someone to think of a number between 1 and 10. Make sure they don’t tell you
what it is!! They need to complete each step from here on out in their head or on a
sheet of paper where you can’t see!!
Ask the person to multiply their number by 9.
Ask the person to add the two digits of their answer together to get one number. If
their answer was only one digit already they can skip this step.
Ask the person to subtract 5 from the number in their head.
Now it starts to get tricky!! They need to think of the letter in the alphabet that
correlates with their number. For example: A=1 B=2 C=3.
We’re almost there!! Ask the person to think of a state or country that begins with
their letter. They can look at a map if one is available!!
Ask the person to take the second letter in that state and think of an animal that
begins with that letter.
Finally, ask the person to think a color that you most associate with that animal.
Here is your chance to blow them away!! Tell them that the color they are thinking of
is:
GRAY!!!
Activity 2 Computers
Motherboard
This is the largest of all circuits in your
computer and tells all the other circuits
what to do. It also holds the most
important parts of the computer.
Sound/Video Card
These are cards that are on the
motherboard that allow your computer
to process sounds and images.
Modem
This is something helps one computer
‘talk’ to another usually using a phone
line or cable connection. You can share
programs and information directly with
another computer using this.
Activity 3- Project
 Design project or experiment
 The culminating project for the module will be a model
of an scenario created using the program ALICE
 The design will be an ongoing project utilizing all
components of the teacher notes and will be worked
on at home and during class.
 Ethics will be an issue that is discussed in one of the
sessions which will relate directly to the resources
that they have available to them and the design that
they will be creating. It will also be integrated when
they report on their design projects
Activity 3- Project
CATEGORY
Duration of Routine
4
3
2
1
Length of
presentation
was 30
seconds.
Length of
presentation
was 25-29
seconds.
Length of presentation
was 20-24
seconds.
Presentation was
less than 20
seconds.
Routine included 3
or more jumps.
Routine included 2
jumps.
Routine included 1
jump.
Routine included 0
jumps.
Routine included 2 or
more spins.
Routine included 1
spin.
Routine included 0
spins.
The skater left the
screen twice.
The skater left the
screen three
times.
The skater left the
screen more
than three
times.
The routine
included one
or more
movements
that were
created by
the
programmer.
The routine included
no new
movements
created by the
programmer.
Jumps
Spins
View
Creativity
The skater remained
on the screen
during the
whole routine.
The skater left the
screen once.
0
Materials
 A freely available program from the
internet, ALICE will be required as well as
a computer lab and internet access.
 Basic classroom materials or inexpensive
materials found at the grocery store.
 Lesson plans and background material
provided in the module
Assessment
 The concepts I plan to assess are on computer
programming, how a computer works and basic
parts and why ethics can create questions that
pertain to the field of computer science need to
be considered by everyone in the age of the
internet.
 I plan to assess my students based on
observation, discussion, creation of their models
(rubric), their written lab on scientific inquiry
(rubric), and a multiple choice and short answer
quiz on ethics in computer science and parts of
a computer.