It's the year 2047 and due to expanding populations on Earth, the government is developing a Space Station people can live on. You are part of a team helping to design the Space Station and prepare for the journey.
Use clipart and images from the Internet to create a poster about how to stay safe online. Also explain how your suggested strategies help keep you safe online and add a box explaining why E-Safety is important.
TEACHER NOTE: This activity might be shortened if you need time to go through saving on the network in the correct place and naming files etc.
Homework: Write at least ten things a space station needs so people can live on it.
Create a Space Station logo. Ensure there is a good contrast of colours so text stands out. Can you explain which select tool is best for which job and change the tolerance of the magic wand?
TEACHER NOTE: This activity can be adjusted to include different tools dependent on how confident the students are.
Homework: Do you have access to the Internet at home? Wired or wireless?
Computers and electronic devices are such a large part of our lives today. Their usefulness becomes much greater when they can 'talk' to each other and access the Internet. How do you suppose they do this?
Using a piece of paper or drawing program, draw six dots and join them up with a line so they are all connected. Repeat the activity but join them in a different way. Try to get a ring, line, star, bus and fully connected set of dots. Electronic devices can be connected in those ways so they can communicate with each other or access the Internet.
Write a list of electronic devices that will be on the space station and describe why they will be connected. Also describe how they will be connected and explain why that method of networking has been chosen.
TEACHER NOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_topology
Pseudocode is a way of writing code for a program without using a specific programming language. It uses boxes and arrows to show the flow of logic and decision making. Why do you think pseudocode is useful?
With a partner, decide on some instructions for a machine to colour in the boxes in a 3x3 grid. The problem is that some are coloured already and you must not colour them twice. Your instructions need an 'If' condition.
Use text boxes and arrows to show the decision making process for sampling oxygen levels and adding more if necessary.
EXT: Add nitrogen when there is too much oxygen.
EXT: Write code to monitor and control other important gases.
Ask students to talk through their logic. Have they used 'if' and 'else'? How could the code be extended to include other factors? How often should the code run?
So that the pilot can have a cup of tea, you need to program a route for any spaceships going to the Space Station. Can you think of any other advantages or disadvantages of programming the route?
Give a partner directions for getting to your form room.
Using the template, program the instructions for moving the spaceship sprite to the Space Station, avoiding the asteroids.
EXT: Make use of a loop to repeat instructions.
EXT: Add collision detection - can you get it to flash when it hits an asteroid?
Planning a route - Scratch Template