When considering how to integrate CT into existing materials, there are three levels of integration that relate to the degree to which the existing unit already engages CT through the scientific/mathematical thinking that is already part of the lessons.
The pages in this section provide more detail for each of these levels, along with examples of each from one of the available IMods on the site, Populations and Habitat.
This IMod, built to integrate into a Grade 3 life sciences unit, illustrates all three levels of integration as described above. An essential question the unit addresses is: “What happens to the survival of local populations if they cannot meet their needs with the resources available?” The source unit included the Oh Deer! game adapted from Project Wild. This game models interconnections between a deer population and available resources over a period of time. Students are assigned roles as deer or as resources (food, water, shelter). The game is played outdoors, in rounds. In each round, deer seek out a resource; those that find their resource survive into the next round and “reproduce” (the paired resource becomes a deer in the subsequent round); those deer that cannot find their resource “die” and become a resource for the next round.
Similar number of deer and resources
Many deer, few resources
After a number of rounds, a wolf is introduced and the simulation continues, with additional rules taking the predator into account. Students record the counts of resources, deer, and wolves at the end of each round, and discuss what causes the populations to fluctuate.
Teachers reported that the lessons developed target CT while also promoting their students’ scientific sense-making. During the physical simulation, students debugged the model, identifying limitations, and suggesting clearer rules to improve it. They relied on their experiences to interpret the data they charted and to understand the electronic spreadsheet and the graph it produced. They also connected the game and their own data to the 100-year simulations produced by the spreadsheet model. Teachers were surprised and excited by the depth of their students’ thinking.