Young computer scientists create a visual artifact that represents their research into a computing innovation in the world of cybersecurity. They then work individually to write an essay on the impact of technology on cybersecurity.

The final performance task for the unit requires class members to utilize what they have learned to create a personal digital scene. Groups work together to develop a scene and then, using top-down design, break the scene into...

The last installment of a 21-part unit is a practice performance task that asks class members to design an app using skills from the unit. Scholars take one of the previous apps from the unit and modify it by adding elements and making...

Here is an authentic assessment task for Shakespeare's Macbeth. Young literature scholars prepare, perform, and record a news broadcast about the major events in the play. For example, groups may choose to report on the death of Lady...

There is no I in team. Seven team problems provide classmates the opportunity to work with a partner on a task. Projects span the course and require pupils to apply their knowledge. Tasks range from writing the algorithm in English to...

Create a geometric playground. Pupils work through a performance task to demonstrate their ability to use geometric concepts to solve everyday problems. The accompanying engineering design lessons show teachers how the assessment works...

Let me break it down for you! Introduce your class to a way of breaking up a complicated task into its component pieces. Individuals draw a complex figure using JavaScript and then break it down to help determine the...

Get some laparoscopic training without the pain with an activity that challenges class members to find out what it is like to perform laparoscopic surgery. Teams perform three different tasks and quantify their performance. The...

One of the factors that automotive engineers must consider is wind drag. The less wind drag, the more efficient the car will be. They perform many tests in wind tunnels, then refine their designs and test again. Using simple materials,...

Computers need precise directions to complete a task. Class members experience what it is like to program a computer with an activity that asks one pupil to describe an image while classmates follow the directions to duplicate the picture.

Color the town red. Demonstrate the concept of graph theory with a task that involves determining the least number of colors needed to color a map so that neighboring countries are not represented by the same color. Pupils...

Students explore engineering by participating in a mechanical class activity. In this simple machines lesson, students identify many simple machines that allow them to perform tasks easily each day. Students collaborate in small groups...

Encoding What I did Last Summer. Class members develop a way to encode a personal experience using a top-down approach to determine components and sub-components of their experience They then pick one portion of the experience and go...

Show your class how it all comes together. The last lesson in a unit of 15 has individuals take everything they learned in the data section to analyze the class-generated data. The pupils find a story they want to tell that appeals to...

There's no need to filter out the project. Future computer scientists set up a program that acts like a photography filter to complete the sixth of eight parts in the Google CS Art unit. They use the turbo mode in the Scratch coding...

Upper graders form a "Presidential Task Force," and attempt to make recommendations concerning the future of the national power grid. After a teacher-led discussion which proves that our nation's energy consumption will soon outpace our...

The pupils practice modifying parameters in a function to add variations to their under the sea scene. The resource also introduces random number functions that alter the scene every time the program runs.

Students explore technology by completing engineering activities in class. In this simple tools lesson, students utilize three science stations to perform tasks using a nutcracker, bottle openers, hammers and other tools. Students review...

Let's see how complicated we can make this simple task. The last activity associated with a 10-part series has groups design and build a Rube Goldberg machine. Teams determine a simple task to accomplish and use the engineering design...

Nobody is as smart as all of us together. In a collaborative learning activity, scholars learn it takes a team to be successful in laparoscopic surgeries. Groups complete the laparoscopic task as a team and discuss their results to...

Create lists within lists. The second lab in a series of five in the unit has pupils develop a simple contact list app. The tasks within the lab build the need for an abstract data type. Individuals build more complexity into their...

Sometimes science is all fun and games! A hands-on STEM lesson asks learners to design and create models of roller coasters. They analyze the motion using a marble and describe the areas of maximum kinetic and potential energy.

It is plane to see that simple machines help reduce the force needed to perform a task.  This resource introduces three of the simple machines--the inclined plane, the wedge, and the screw, and  the formulas in order to be able...

Get the code right. A detailed resource provides pupils and teachers of computer science courses with released items from the 2008 exam. Questions range from studying code in a case study to creating code to perform specific tasks....