Computer Science Fundamentals - 3rd Grade
Course Description
In this course, students review internet safety practices and develop their computational thinking skills while using Scratch, a block coding language. During Unplugged and Coding lessons, students broaden their understanding of variables, loops, and conditionals through coding and debugging exercises. Students discuss digital etiquette, attribution, and a wide range of career paths in STEM Career and Digital Citizenship lessons. By the end of this course, students will have an understanding of real-world applications of technology and fundamental programming concepts.
Course Learning Goals
Each lesson plan is designed to enable students to achieve specific learning outcomes related to course aligned computer science competencies. For example, at the end of this course students will be able to:
Identify variables and loops in code and predict the output of functions.
Demonstrate knowledge of how conditionals function by developing and identifying examples.
Apply knowledge of familiar Scratch blocks to create a program that serves an intended purpose.
Summarize how variables work in code.
Describe the purpose and benefits of online communities.
Summarize how they can use a critical lens to judge the trustworthiness of digital media.
