Helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively — essential skills for life in the 21st century.

Students will be introduced to the 4 basic functions that computers perform and begin to think about the advantages that computers have over humans in taking in input, processing data, and providing output. Students will be asked to identify how humans interface with computers using input and output devices and then invent a new input/output prototype of their choosing.

A young girl has a wonderful idea to make the most MAGNIFICENT thing! But making her magnificent thing is anything but easy, and the girl repeatedly tries and fails. Eventually, she quits, but a walk with her dog and time to think, she comes back to her project with renewed enthusiasm and manages to get it just right. The resource includes a lesson plan/book card, a design challenge, and copy of a design thinking journal that provide guidance on using the book to inspire students' curiosity for design thinking. Maker Challenge: Create small groups. Pass out one of the challenges listed in the lesson plan/book card to each group for them to come up with an invention that will solve the problem at hand.

A document is included in the resources folder that lists the complete standards-alignment for this book activity.

In this unplugged activity, students are introduced to the concept of algorithms. They will use the Computer Programming video from Brainpop to prompt a discussion around giving directions and the value of iteration. Students will then engage by creating their own algorithm to help get their “robot teacher” from point A to point B.