bESTology 2025 – Lesson #5
Welcome to bESTology 2025 fACTOIDS
A computer, your team and decisions. As you proceed with this next mission you will begin sequentially applying your mathematical and computational thinking skills. Can you become a master of this mission? Thinking logically will help you understand what is missing, how to predict what is next and begin critically thinking to identify errors. Are you ready to challenge your sequential thinking to examine results about the power of human interaction with the digital world? Let’s begin this mission…
Lesson #5- "Programming is the Art of Algorithm Design and the Craft of Debugging Code". – Ellen Ullman
Mission five will take you deeper in understanding of algorithms and the craft of debugging. These are tasks you and your brain accomplish everyday for every decision you make. Understanding right and wrong are algorithmic decisions you make and debugging is the understanding of the positive or negative consequences experienced. With humans controlling the programming for technology, the design of the program and debugging behavior errors is a human task that digital devices demonstrate. 1…2…5…A…B….d
Logical, sequential thinking is needed for computers to understand a process. Thinking that humans do is related to mathematical concepts known as Computational Thinking. Understanding the sequential methods of computational thinking can sharpen your ability to identify next steps, understand how errors in expected behaviors occur and ways to make effective modifications. This is exactly how your brain works when humans employ thinking skills. There are several terms that describe this behavior. You have probably heard terms: algorithmic, logical, sequential, computational thinking in your math or science class. Now you will look at these thinking patterns through a Computer Science lens to see how human thinking influences technological decisions.
These thinking patterns also influence how products are designed and developed. Known by several different names, BEST identifies this method as the Engineering Design Process. Engineering Design Process is a mind-set method to identify steps for design and development for products and processes. The Engineering Notebook for your team should be designed using this process to share how your team has identified the steps to accomplish your goals and reflections on the development of your robot to solve the open-ended task for this year’s competition.
RESOURCES
RESEARCH
Now that you are thinking about Computational Thinking and Engineering Design Process, let’s dig in to see how you can apply this thinking to the way this thinking can work in your life and how this applies to the ways you can describe steps and processes so that someone else can accurately follow your problem-solving strategy.
ACTIVITY
GOING FURTHER Challenge! Use the links below to practice your Computational Thinking Skills and Debugging errors that may occur. What Computational Thinking method do you find yourself using the most? Does this method depend on if you are reading words or pictures? Reflect on your choice. When errors occur, did you use Computational Thinking to help you figure out the error? Reflect on the steps you took to solve the problem.
Resources To Use:
Picture Sequencing
Trinket.io-create and modify lines of code or create new lines of code -No Account
Needed
Python Tutor-follow the directions, choose the format, create lines of code to perform a
task.-No Account Needed
INQUIRY PROJECT Ellen Ullman is a programmer and author. She has written many books focused on her interest in computer programming and the effects with society. Thinking about her quote at the beginning of this lesson, how will you share your computational thinking using the Engineering Design Process in your Engineering Notebook? Follow the Engineering Design Steps and craft a paragraph describing the use of computational thinking to design a program for a robot to complete the following task to move across the floor, navigate a left turn around an obstacle, navigate a right turn around an obstacle, move forward and exit through a door to the hallway. Use this document to guide you through crafting your paragraph.
BEST IN YOUR COMMUNITY
Computational thinking is used by humans and machines everyday. What daily activities do you accomplish where you don’t know you are using Computational Thinking? Habits are Computational Thinking used when a behavior becomes autonomous like remembering to put your socks on before your shoes. Debugging is used when a problem or unexpected results happen. Reflecting on the steps and stages help us know and remember to make corrections so the expected result occurs. How does your community interact with computational thinking and Engineering Design in society? Share your investigation in your Engineering Notebook.
BASED ON A TRUE STORY
Use the link to read about the everyday connections with Computational Thinking and the Engineering Design Process. Use this websites to learn about everyday use of these thinking strategies.
Ellipsis Education
EIE Team
Teacher / Mentor Info:
Bloom’s Taxonomy-Lesson Addresses the following Taxonomy Levels:
Resources- Remembering and Understanding Research-Applying, Analyzing Evaluating Activity-Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, Creating BEST in Your Community- Analyzing, Evaluating Based On A True Story-Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating
Workforce Skills-Lesson has students utilize the following Workforce Skills:
Communication-effectively communicate ideas and information to others
Adaptability-understand how to change and adapt thinking and behavior
My Personal Journal