I Am Zambia Cirriculum

Lesson 2: Computational Thinking (January 16th and 17th)

Link to Lesson:

Computational Thinking Lesson

Suggestions/Tips:

It is reccomeded that you follow this lesson guide fairly closely, starting with vocabulary.

If you think it would be better, feel free to do the Computational Thinking Activity as a class.

Make sure to cover the "Flash-Chat" section to pull the lesson together.

Feel free to also do the attached Assessment as a class if you do not wish to print out worksheets for everyone.


Corresponding QuizIt Questions:

The following questions are the same questions students will see when they log into QuizIt at the end of the lesson. Because each lesson is taught over a two day period, there are two questions on QuizIt that correspond to this lesson.

These questions are shown here as a "teacher-check" to ensure that the material asked in the question has been covered in the lesson. Please do not go over the answer to this question during the lesson. We want to see if the students can apply what they learned in class to answer this question.


1. Using pattern matching and abstraction, make a script template for the following sentences: I love to bake cakes with my sister. I love to bake cookies with my friend. I love to bake bread with my teacher.

  1. I love to bake _____ with my _____
    2.
  2. I _____ to bake cakes with my _____
  3. I love to _____ cakes with _____ sister
  4. I love to _____ cookies with my _____

2. If you have a problem that is just a little different from a problem that you have a solution for, what should you do?

  1. Use abstraction to pull out the differences between the two problems to make one soution work for both problems
    2.
  2. Give up
  3. Use the exact same answer from the similar problem
  4. Re-do the problem completely. The similar problem won't help you find the answer

Additional Practice Questions:

Feel free to go over these questions in class as an "end of lesson review"


What is the definition of decompose?

  1. Combine smaller pieces to make a problem more whole
  2. Break a problem down into smaller pieces
    3.
  3. Pulling out specific differences to make one solution work for multiple problems
  4. Finding similarities between things

What is the definition of abstraction?

  1. Organizing many different items into similar groups
  2. Break a problem down into smaller pieces
  3. Pulling out specific differences to make one solution work for multiple problems
    4.
  4. A list of steps you can follow to finish a task

What is the definition of pattern matching?

  1. Finding similarities between things
    2.
  2. Break a problem down into smaller pieces
  3. Looking closely at every step to determine where the mistake is
  4. A list of steps you can follow to finish a task

What is the definition of an algorithm?

  1. Finding similarities between things
  2. Break a problem down into smaller pieces
  3. Pulling out specific differences to make one solution work for multiple problems
  4. A list of steps you can follow to finish a task
    5.

If a problem is too hard, what should you try to do?

  1. Break down the problem into smaller pieces
  2. Find similarities between things
  3. Ask for help
  4. All of the above
    5.