In both Publisher and PDF formats:
An A3 wall poster which includes the basic syntax for programming in Python 3. Covers most of what KS4 pupils need to know. More depth needed for KS5 but still a reasonable starting point.
This activity can be used to teach how a bitmap image maps the colour of each pixel in an image.
Sheet 1 includes instructions with the main activity on sheet 2 and an extension task on sheet 3.
Can be used to teach binary representation of images if used following an explanation of how decimal numbers can be converted to binary for digital storage/communication.
Created for use in computer science taster classes with both year 6 and year 7.
An end of topic test for the information representation section of the Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 course.
Includes:
Question paper
Mark scheme
Spreadsheet results analysis
I didn’t use this live yet but will update the mark scheme post-moderation when I have.
A quick reference guide on CSS primarily at students doing the CIE IGCSE ICT course. However it would also likely be of use to any student who needs to understand some basic CSS. PDF and PUB versions uploaded so it can be adapted for other uses.
PowerPoint presentation covering the theory for section 3.2.1 of the CIE A2 Computer Science syllabus. May also be useful for other syllabi.
Derivative work based, in part, on the A Level Computing Wikibook page ‘Structure of the Internet: TCP IP protocol stack’ taken on 10/10/2016 from https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/A-level_Computing/AQA/Computer_Components,_The_Stored_Program_Concept_and_the_Internet/Structure_of_the_Internet/TCP_IP_protocol_stack
Modified by Peter Astbury and released under the same licence as the original work: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Three tasks intended to take around 20 minutes each looking at website design and comparing different websites to try and identify rules of good design.
Created for a cover lesson but may work as part of a regular lesson.
A class project to create a digital artefact or wall display around the topic of hardware and software. Can also be used to introduce copyright concepts.
Students draw logic circuit diagrams and truth tables from given logic statements and then need to create a logic statement and truth table from a given circuit diagram. Aimed at a GCSE Computer Science class but also useful for anybody needing to learn logic gates and logic circuits.
Practice exercises for query-by-example database questions. Created for a GCSE Computer Science class but suitable for anybody who needs to use query-by-example in databases or for users of software (such as MS Access) which use query-by-example grids.
A problem solving activity based around image compression and data representation. Students are given a problem to solve. Could be completed individually or in small groups. Aimed at sixth form students but may be appropriate as a challenge for more able key stage four students.
Revision notes and some exercises on using check sums as part of a system of error detection and correction. Written for students on the CIE IGCSE Computer Science course but also useful for students on other courses.
Organised in a similar way to the Early Career Teacher and National Professional Qualifications frameworks with ‘Know that’ and ‘Know how to’ statements to guide the development of professional development opportunities for teachers around the use of AI in schools.
Still a work in progress. Feedback is welcome.
This resource is designed for use with the CIE A2 Computing course but can be used with any course which covers the use of loaders in an operating system for managing memory locations of running processes.
The intention is to demonstrate why a loader is needed.
Assumed Prior Knowledge
Students should know that a CPU contains the CU, ALU and a number of registers. They should know (or be told during this exercise) that the Program Counter (PC) contains the address in memory of the next instruction to be executed. They should have a basic understanding of the fetch-decode-execute cycle. They should understand what an interrupt is in the context of the fetch-execute cycle. They should have been introduced to process scheduling. It is not necessary for them to know what the registers are (other than the PC) or what their function is in the fetch-execute cycle.
Any feedback welcome.
An activity using various tools to help students build a map of *their* Internet. They start by identifying some websites in different countries then using various ping, traceroute and geolocation tools to build a map of the journey a packet takes from their computer across the Internet to each website. They then add average ping times to see the time it takes for messages to travel around the world over the Internet.
Can be a group or individual activity. Each group will also need a world map, such as this one https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/world-map-3000292 The larger you can print the map the better the end result. Or alternatively you could use the Google Maps 'My Maps' tools to accomplish the same thing.
You will need to show students how to use ping and traceroute commands on whichever OS you are using.
Findings from all groups can be added to large-format wall map as a display, perhaps using pins, labels and string?
This is a simulation intended to demonstrate the problem with encoding negative numbers in a computer system. It was created to use a starter activity with a sixth form class prior to teaching sign & magnitude, ones complement and twos complement encoding.
The PowerPoint file includes instruction on slide 1. The rest of the ppt shows a dial such as you might find in a car odometer (or a combination lock, date stamp, etc) with numbers. The slides show they can be ‘dialed’ forwards or backwards. When dialled backwards past zero we get 9, not -1 because there is no negative symbol available. This is the same problem in a computer system. We have only 0 and 1, we don’t have a negative symbol available. So how do we ‘encode’ a negative number?
It is also effective to have some code locks or date stamps available to give students to demonstrate the principle for themselves.
This then leads into a problem solving discussion where the teacher can then introduce the idea of sign & magnitude one ones/twos complement.
A Google Slides using the Peardeck add-in to explain number systems. Designed for AS level Computer Science but also applicable to GCSE and key stage three.
What is a number system?
How do number bases work?
What is the binary number system?
Google and Peardeck accounts required.