Session 6: Unit 10 Overview
65 minutes
lesson exploration
Purpose
Similar to Unit 3, Unit 10 has a long project that runs through the course of the unit. For teachers who plan only one less at a time, this project can be difficult to understand since it is not intended to take one class period. Also, Unit 10 includes important themes and skills that we want students to know to be an informed citizen in the digital world. At times, teachers find these units as “less essential” because they are not directly building students’ programming skills, but in reality, it is these units that we see as building essential and enduring skills regardless of what passions students decide to pursue next.
Objectives
- Participants understand the structure and content of the Unit 10 project.
- Participants have a plan for how they will get “buy in” from students during the Unit 10 project.
Supplies & Prep
Room Setup:
- None.
Facilitator Supplies:
- CSP Slides - Workshop 4 - 21-22
- Physical copies of the Character Bio print out. If these copies are not available, have participants read about their character on the digital version.
- Printed name plates if available. If these copies are not available, write down the names of the characters on separate post-its and assign a character to each person through handing out post its.
Participant Materials:
- Computers
- Journals
- Virtual copy of the Project Guide
Agenda
Unit 10 Overview (8 minutes)
Warp-Speed Overview (43 minutes)
Reflection (14 minutes)
Facilitation Guide
Unit 10 Overview (8 minutes)
Facilitator Tip
As one facilitator is going over this high level overview, the other facilitator should be handing out physical copies of the Character Bios linked in the Facilitator Supplies. Ideally, you have the roles printed out, but if not, simply hand out post-it notes with the name of the role on it.
💷 Show the big picture of the unit:
- Students learn through a full-class simulation which helps contextualize what students are learning by moving from abstract ideas of privacy or security to concrete potential innovations.
- Between simulation lessons, students learn more information that informs their decisions in the simulations.
💷 Model using the encryption tools:
- Demonstrate the Caesar Cipher Widget (linked in the slides). If you have time, you can choose to also show the Random Substitution Cipher Widget (also linked in the slides). The goal is to give participants an idea of the tools in the unit and how they are connected to CS.
- In the case of the Caesar Cipher, you can see that the encrypted text is hard to understand, but using the tool, it is very easy to break. In CS, we are always looking to make sure our encryption tools are difficult to break.
Warp-Speed Overview (43 minutes)
(5 minutes) 💷 Unit 10 Task
Review the Unit 10 task:
- There is a convention coming up to determine the direction for “Future School”.
- Each student will be given a role to play for a stakeholder in the Future School (parent, teacher, student, etc.).
- They will research innovations their stakeholder might want to have at this Future School and with their group, they will develop a theme or vision for their presentation at the convention.
- This takes place over multiple lessons. Students stay “in character” for each lesson in the simulation.
Remarks
As we mentioned, most of this unit is an extended simulation. In the slides, you will see a banner showing you and students that we are in simulation mode. We are going to engage with this project on warp-speed to get a feel for what students will be doing. We expect students will be doing much more research at each of these steps, but here we are going to focus more on the steps of the project rather than the CS content.
You have all been assigned a role in this simulation. You are now this new character and you are planning on proposing a new concept for the “Future school”. Before we start,
- You have each been assigned your role. Read about your role, fully embody your new character, and introduce yourself to your table as your new character.
- Make your own copy of the Project Guide.
Let’s get started.
Facilitator Tip
Really sell this as a simulation. Address participants by their new name, encourage them to describe their role, and be creative thinkers about what their character would want to introduce.
(3 minutes) 💷 Step 1 - Reflect
Remarks
We are so excited to have all of you participate in the “Future School Convention”! You each have a lot to bring to the conversation! To start, look at step 1 of your Activity Guide and write a bit about what YOU (in your character) would want in a Future School.
(7 minutes) 💷 Step 2 - Research
Remarks
We know you have a lot of ideas for Future School. Now is the time to get them out on the table! Research 2 different innovations that YOU (in your character) are interested in proposing the Future School adapt. Due to the accelerated pace here, we are going to ask you to answer all these questions the best you can - no citing of sources needed due to the warp-speed we are moving at!
(15 minutes) 💷 Step 3: Share Out & Formulate a Vision
Remarks
You are already sitting with your groupmates! Together, you are going to propose a vision or theme for Future School, one that connects all your innovations. For example, you might suggest that Future School be focused on international relations, or local agriculture, or maybe something else entirely. In your groups:
- Share what innovations you are thinking of for the school
- Give feedback on the innovations
- And develop a theme/vision for your school that connects all those innovations.
(8 minutes) 💷 Preparing Your Group Presentation
In your group develop a 2 minute pitch for your big theme. This pitch should be:
- Coherent: Explains the theme that ties your different innovations together
- Compelling: Highlight the benefits of your vision and get the audience excited
- Creative: Choose the format that will best communicate your vision
- Clear: Make it clear specifically what you’re proposing
- Collaborative: Every group member has a role, and every innovation is briefly explained
- Concise: You’ll only have a couple minutes
(5 minutes) 💷 Share Out
Have 1-2 groups share their pitch.
Reflection (14 minutes)
💷 (2 minutes) Context
Remarks
You can see we REALLY rushed this project. In the classroom many things would be different:
- Students would actually do research on their innovations.
- Students would create a one-pager on ONE of their innovations
- Groups would get feedback on their ideas.
- All groups would share out and vote on best innovation and best vision/theme at the “convention”
- You can learn more about how the simulation is connected through this Unit 10 Big Picture Document (also found in the lesson plans).
Also, periodically, the simulation will be paused for lessons that will help inform their decisions in the simulation. For example, students will learn about security and privacy in technology in two separate lessons that are not part of the simulation, before addressing the security concerns of their own innovations they are proposing.
(12 minutes) 💷 Think-Pair-Share Discussion
Have participants Think-Pair-Share for 2, 3, and 5 minutes respectively on the following prompts:
Facilitator Tip
If teachers “sell” the simulation to students, it will be more fun for everyone involved. Encourage teachers to go over the top with emphasizing roles and purpose in the “convention”.
- What can you do to get students to “buy in” to the extended simulation?
- What do YOU want students to get out of the project? What would success look like for your class?
- What critical thinking skills are students building during this project that will be helpful regardless of what careers or interests students pursue after taking CSP?
Summarize any points from the discussion that you want to reiterate. Otherwise, wrap-up this section with a summary of where we have been. This is the last unit that introduces new content to students and is intended to really end on a collaborative and creative note.