Decomposition. Computing and problem solving.

What is decomposition? Wondering how to explain decomposition? Looking for an exciting way to introduce a computational thinking session including decomposition?
If you are tackling problem solving in any subject you could start with a rousing song! It’s a sure way to help us all to remember that word: decomposition.

Decomposition may not be too hard a concept for many people, who understand that you need to break a big problem down into smaller parts/steps/chunks that are easier to understand and to organize.
It’s a standard problem solving technique used in everyday situations as well as in education across different subjects
Attempting to organize those chunks can be a great stride in logical and computational thinking, and the steps needed to complete the problem take you fully into abstraction and algorithms, of course.

Packed with real world imagery, visual depictions generated by AI and animated humorous moments.
Remember you can pause the video if anyone needs more time to discuss any text that is on the screen.

Part of being a computer programmer is breaking down a big problem into the smaller problems that make it up. By asking questions about the problem and then looking at the answers to those, you can break down a big problem into smaller problems and then you can use a computer to solve them.
When computer scientists are writing a program they may break the code into small chunks. They would look for patterns in their code and can reuse useful chunks of code for other programs.

PUPIL OBJECTIVE/ LEARNING OUTCOME:
I can solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts.
To understand that when problem solving, it can be useful to break up a problem into smaller steps/chunks.

There are a variety of sheets including ones with an open choice for the problem to attempt to decompose. You may find that pupils are better using large plain paper to formulate ideas, especially if they work in groups.
It is very hard to produce one sheet as a structure for different decomposition problems as they are so varied.