Computational Thinking - Piece by Piece

A resource I have used quite a bit is the Google Exploring Computational Thinking site.



They have broken down CT into decomposition, pattern recognition, pattern generalization, and algorithm design.  I really liked how they introduced each part of CT and provided analogies for each one.  For example, they likened decomposition to tasting a dish and figuring out what all the ingredients are in it.  After going through a few examples of CT in action, I thought that it would be good to go more in-depth into each part.  I started with decomposition and had the students brainstorm examples of decomposition in the world around them:
-mysteries - because you need to break it down to find clues, or sometimes they are broken down and you need to put the clues together
-planning a trip - first you have to find hotel, decide where to go, buy tickets, board the plane, budget
-building a house - because it is made up of different rooms
-Legos - there is a big model on the front, then need to break down into directions that you follow to make it

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