This resource asks the question ‘How much information is there in a thousand page book?’ It continues by exploring how to estimate how much space is needed to store the information and introduces a way of measuring information content. The resource begins by discussing what is meant by information and how amounts...

This resource for VEX IQ Modkit helps students to understand the basic principles of using blocks of code to create a programme. The Modkit blocks have been reproduced so that they can be printed and used by students for discussion and when planning their code. This resource contains a classroom presentation...

This activity away from the computer is from the Barefoot Computing project. It is intended to provide a theoretical understanding of why and how variables are used in computer programming, using the example of score-keeping in a classroom quiz. Involving several volunteers from the group, the activity uses...

This paired-programming activity from the Barefoot Computing project focusses on sequences in algorithms and programs.

Children create an animation of a Viking raid – ideally they will have previously studied Vikings...

The Rising Stars year three planning unit uses Scratch to create an animated cartoon from characters designed by students. The resource contains detailed planning of each stage of the lesson, accounting for all groups of learners. In the lesson students learn how to use the paint tool in Scratch to create a sprite...

This Barefoot Computing activity for lower primary children uses simple sequences of instructions to explore a world map. They use logical reasoning to predict the outcome of instructions that are 'programmed' into a simple game, made using Scratch 2. Children learn about the continents by guiding a simple robot...

This engineering activity, suitable for children in computing lessons, looks at the basics of flowchart construction. Simple examples, such as the decisions made by a dog chasing a stick, are used to make flowchart representation of algorithms accessible to younger children. A simple design activity requires...

Computers only have a limited amount of space to hold information, so they need to represent information as efficiently as possible. This is called compression. By coding data before it is stored, and decoding it when it is retrieved, the computer can store more data, or send it faster through the Internet. This...