Find Resources

Battle of the Agents

Posted March 29, 2017 by turtle

A take on the classic board game Battleship, this paper and pencil activity is a fun way to help students understand the use of x and y coordinates in StarLogo Nova. After the activity, students can use the StarLogo Nova model to experiment with x and y locations in a game-like context.

Prisoner's Dilemma (Tit for Tat)

Posted March 30, 2017 by turtle

A participatory simulation where partners examine strategies of cooperation versus individual gain. Based on the game theory activity of Prisoner's Dilemma, this activity introduces students to the contrast between theories of "Tragedy of the Commons" (individuals maximizing their own gain will result in collapse of the resources) and classic economic theory (maximum individual gain will lead to greatest efficiency).

Toss-Up

Posted March 30, 2017 by turtle

As a virus spreads through a community, epidemiologists might study how far a disease has spread, how quickly it spreads and how infectious it can be as well a numerous other pieces of data in order to understand the disease and its potential impact on a community. In this activity, students will simulate the spread of a virus such as the flu. Students will work in pairs to accumulate data using graph paper, a data chart, and a die. Before starting, groups will need to decide on three variables.

Scavenger Hunt for Teachers

Posted April 3, 2017 by turtle

This scavenger hunt asks teachers to locate various Project GUTS resources. A fun tool to increase familiarity with Project GUTS and what's available.

Understanding by Design

Posted April 5, 2017 by turtle

Understanding by Design (UbD) curriculum offers a 3-stage “backward design” framework for developing units of study. The same process guides larger-scale curriculum development for courses and
programs (macro level). The UbD curriculum structure for building a coherent curriculum spirals around “big ideas,” essential questions, and core assessments.

BCSC 5e Instructional Model

Posted April 5, 2017 by turtle

BSCS (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study) paper explaining the 5e instructional model. The model describes a teaching sequence that can be used for entire programs, specific units, and individual lessons. The BSCS 5E Instructional Model plays a significant role in the curriculum development process as well as the enactment of curricular materials in science classrooms.

Why Model?

Posted May 15, 2017 by sgibbs

A paper describing the author's reasons why modeling is essential to science.

The Giraffe and the Platypus

Posted June 12, 2017 by sgibbs

This is an activity that allows teachers in a workshop to experience and explore the equity issue involved in differences in background knowledge of students.

Kinesthetic Flower Turtles Activity

Posted August 3, 2017 by carl

This activity is an extension to the CS in Science Module 1, Lesson 2, between activity 1 and activity 2. It is a kinesthetic activity to show how the agents behave according to a certain program. It can replace the activity that is there or be used as an extension or add on to the listed activities.

Exploring the Wiggle Walk and Collisions via a Kinesthetic Activity

Posted August 4, 2017 by jhenderson

This activity teaches the Wiggle Walk blocks (random right by ___ degrees, random left by___ degrees), through a kinesthetic activity and explores when a programmer would want to code agents to move this way. It avoids the statical analysis of the random probabilities found in Module One, Lesson 4 Activity 1: Probability with Dice and Data and Colliding Turtles, while still addressing the end goals of the Module One Lesson 4.

Teaching Equity Resources

Posted June 4, 2018 by sgibbs

Here are links to the resources used in CS in Science workshops to discuss equity in computer science.

Project GUTS teacher & facilitator guides

Posted June 19, 2018 by sgibbs

These guides are aimed at helping teachers or workshop facilitators help their students or participants be independent learners while working with computer models. They are a work in progress - final versions will be uploaded soon. Please feel free to point out any corrections or additions in a discussion thread -- Thanks!

Complex or Complicated?

Posted July 27, 2018 by turtle

Complex or Complicated uses a slide presentation to create a whole class game-show like activity that is used to engage students in argument from evidence and refine students' understanding of complex adaptive systems.

Papercatchers

Posted July 27, 2018 by turtle

Papercatchers is a participatory simulation in which students learn about population growth and limits to growth. Students play the role of members of a growing population, follow simple rules governing survival and reproduction, and collect and graph data.

Skill Building Deck

Posted June 12, 2019 by ilee

A slide deck of exercises to build CS and decoding skills

Peanut Butter & Jelly Robot

Posted September 1, 2016 by turtle

This activity introduces students to several computer science concepts, to the necessity for thoroughness while programming, and to the often strange results of literalism. The overarching theme is that computers do what they are told and nothing more. The ability to read between the lines and determine what was meant rather than what was said is a skill computers lack. Additionally, students are introduced to the concept of debugging.

If you can't find what you're looking for, send us a comment about what you were expecting to find.