Resources by Computer Science Unplugged
Displaying 1 - 10 of 29
Battleships - Searching Algorithms
Computers are often required to find information in large collections of data. They need to develop quick and efficient ways of doing this. This activity demonstrates three different search methods: linear searching, binary searching and hashing. This resource begins with the introductory activity of battleships....
Beat the Clock - Sorting Networks
Even though computers are fast, there is a limit to how quickly they can solve problems. One way to speed things up is to use several computers to solve different parts of a problem. In this activity sorting networks are used to do several sorting comparisons at the same time. This resource begins with a discussion...
Card Flip Magic - Error Detection
When data is stored on a disk or transmitted from one computer to another, it is usually assumed that it doesn’t get changed in the process. But sometimes things go wrong and the data is changed accidentally. This activity uses a magic trick to show how to detect when data has been corrupted, and how to correct it...
Colour by Numbers - Image representation
Computers store drawings, photographs and other pictures using only numbers. The following activity demonstrates how they can do this. This resource includes ideas teachers can use to introduce the topic in order to develop understanding of image representation followed by two activities to be used as reinforcement...
Computer Science Unplugged is a collection of twenty activities designed to aid the teaching and learning of computer science through engaging games and puzzles using cards, string, crayons and lots of running around. The activities introduce students to many of the underlying concepts separated from the...
Conversations with Computers - The Turing Test
This activity aims to stimulate discussion on the question of whether computers can exhibit ’intelligence’, or are ever likely to do so in the future. Based on a pioneering computer scientist’s view of how one might recognize artificial intelligence if it ever appeared, it conveys something of what is currently...
Count the Dots - Binary Numbers
Data in computers is stored and transmitted as a series of zeros and ones. In this activity students explore how words and numbers can be represented using just these two symbols. This resource includes ideas teachers can use to introduce the topic in order to develop understanding of the binary system followed by...
Databases unplugged
This report gives details of a series of computing lessons designed to relate fundamental concepts of database use and design to children in Primary and Secondary Education (ages of 6 to 16). The skills and concepts developed in...
Ice Roads - Steiner Trees
Sometimes a small, seemingly insignificant, variation in the specification of a problem makes a huge difference in how difficult it is to solve. This activity, like the The...