5: Hour of Code

Activity 5: Hour of Code - Building a Galaxy with Code

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Activity Description

55 min.

The girls will work through the Star Wars Hour of Code: Building a Galaxy with Code activity on Code.org. They will use pair programming as they can work through the levels on both laptops and tablets. They will learn about the concept of events and be introduced to some strong women leaders in the field.

Objectives

By completing this activity girls will

define “coding” and “computer science”.
identify key computer science vocabulary.
make connections between computer science concepts and the real world.
learn about the computational thinking concept events.

How to Implement

Girls will work in pairs. Have them decide who is going to start as the navigator and who is going to start as the driver. Half way through the activity, they will switch roles.
Remind them of the distinct roles of the driver and of the navigator. Explaing that the driver controls the computer or tablet and the navigator is helping the driver think about the big picture and solve problems.
Introduce the activity and then have them get either a laptop or a tablet.
Have the girls go to the Star Wars Hour of Code activity. It is important to use this activity as it has a video on events that they need to watch and features strong female leaders in the field of computer science.
Depending on the experience level of your girls, you may want to demonstrate the first level. Otherwise, they can get started after they watch the first video.
Some things you may want to point out as the girls are working:
- The visual language they are manipulating is called Blockly. It is used to teach computer science even at top universities like MIT and Harvard. The girls will use Blockly in later activities for mobile app development.
- Show them how to toggle to the text-based code and talk a little bit about the programing language they are seeing. Tell them it is called JavaScript and is one of the most widely used programming languages out there.
Each pair will move through the levels at their own pace.
Wrap Up Discussion
- The girls may not complete all of the levels by the time you are ready to wrap up, but they should have all gotten through level 7 and watched the video that introduces the CT concept of events. An event is an action that causes something to happen.
- Have the girls share something that they discovered while working through the levels or something that surprised them. What are some other examples of events that they can think of? (using a television remote, ringing a door-bell, pressing a car horn, etc.) What are some events that they can think of in an app they may have used?

Resources & Materials

Per pair:

laptop or tablet
Star Wars Hour of Code Activity

Notes to Educators

Hour of Code Star Wars Answer Sheet

Extension Options

Have the girls explore the Hour of Code website, working on at least one new activity that interests them and keeping note of two new pieces of information that they learn and can share with the rest of the group.
Show the girls the Made with Code website and have them watch videos and try out some of the different activities, if they end up in the mentor section and want to watch the videos, that’s okay too!

Standards Alignment

Interim CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards: 1B-A-2-1, 1B-A-5-3, 1B-A-5-4, 1B-A-3-6, 1B-A-3-7, 1B-A-6-8, 2-A-6-10

Next Generation Science Standards: 3-5-ETS1-1, 3-5-ETS1-2

Common Core Standards for English Language Arts: W.5.2d, W.5.6, SL.5.1, L.5.6, SL.6.1, SL.6.6, RST.6.3, RST.6.4

Attribution

This work, Hour of Code, is a derivative of “Star Wars: Building a Galaxy with Code” by code.org CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, licensed under CC by SciGirls

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