Computer Science resources for KS3-4, with a focus on programming.
Programming resources include Scratch, Microbit, Small Basic and Visual Basic for now, with other languages potentially in the future, such as C#.
I have worked with the AQA specification throughout my teaching career and so these resources will be suitable for anyone teaching the new AQA spec.
Please review any resources, suggestions are welcome for improvements etc.
Computer Science resources for KS3-4, with a focus on programming.
Programming resources include Scratch, Microbit, Small Basic and Visual Basic for now, with other languages potentially in the future, such as C#.
I have worked with the AQA specification throughout my teaching career and so these resources will be suitable for anyone teaching the new AQA spec.
Please review any resources, suggestions are welcome for improvements etc.
This resource was used for Year 7 Computing following a unit involving learning about variables, selection, iteration and random number generation using the Microbit. They loved playing the game, especially as they helped to create it!
The idea is to have them use the Microbit as part of the board game. They will program in a dice function for shaking the Microbit, and other features for when they press Button A or B. The game works similarly to Snakes and Ladders. Button A moves the player either forwards or backwards, 6, 4, or 2 spaces (picked randomly by the program), and Button B moves the player up or down by flashing up to 3 up or down arrows (again randomly).
Instructions were given via a worksheet, where the first page (two of the tasks) were given in the first lesson and the final one was given at the start of the second. When they had finished their program they could then download it to the Microbit and play their game. My students ended up with between 10-25 minutes playing time depending on how quickly they programmed their game. They can provide their own playing pieces from pencil cases etc. and the board is provided (A4 printout is fine).
The code is in the screenshots in the PowerPoint slides and can be made up quickly.
Included is a presentation on iteration using Small Basic. Includes some theory and programming tasks, including all of the code required, instruction sheets and code snippets useful for helping students who might otherwise struggle with programming.
I have used this with multiple mixed ability Year 8 classes, who have all managed some success with programming. Also included at the end of the presentation is a link to a Kahoot quiz written specifically for this lesson.
One of the early tasks involves changing the background colour of the graphics window. Be aware that if students play around with the timing then it could potentially affect students with epilepsy. I made sure that none of my students would be affected before planning this lesson.
Included is an assessment for the end of a microbit programming unit. Topics included variables, selection, definite and indefinite iteration. The test also includes specific practical knowledge of programming using microbit blocks.
Presentation with information on computer software, including the differences between application, system software and operating systems.
This is the fifth lesson in the 'How a Computer Works' topic.
This resource includes a PowerPoint presentation that teaches about logic gates, with a worksheet designed to be used on the computers, and an online link to practically find out about logic gates. It also includes a double sided homework sheet.
This is the seventh lesson in the 'How a Computer Works' topic.
A 60 minute lesson delivered for Year 8 in an observed lesson.
All tasks are on the lesson plan/powerpoint notes, there are more than enough so I have not delivered this lesson using every task. Worth running through the memory game slide to see how the animation works before using it.
This is the sixth lesson in the 'How a Computer Works' topic.
This Unit of Work includes 10 lessons worth of Microbit programming skills and knowledge.
Each lesson has a PowerPoint presentation to go with it, with all other resources also included as Word documents. All resources including PowerPoints are numbered to make it easier to follow the unit, and there is also a teacher’s guide included. The Unit begins with an introduction to Microbits, and concludes with revision, end of unit test and DIRT reflection lesson.
Topics included are Variables, Selection, Iteration, and various programming challenges in the form of games that the students can create. It also includes the Microbit Board Game project that takes 2 lessons, which is also available from the Programmer’s Paradise shop on TES Resources.
A homework is also included, where the students can create a program using printed code blocks, cut and stick them onto the other half of the paper. This can be used after the first couple of lessons, or later if they are less familiar with the concepts.
This assessment is similar but more advanced than the introductory Scratch unit assessment in my shop, and includes questions on subroutines and variables as well as algorithms, sequencing, selection and iteration. This is aimed at students who have completed two units of Scratch.
This resource includes a PowerPoint presentation, starter worksheet (designed to be readable when printed A5 size), and homework sheet (A4).
The lesson builds on hardware components and looks at input and output devices. The lesson is the third in the 'How a Computer Works' topic.
Included in this resource is a PowerPoint, information sheet for students to answer questions about computer systems, and another PowerPoint mix and match activity which the students can use on their computers.
This is the first lesson in the How a Computer Works topic.
Two worksheets, the second harder than the first, which can be printed in A5 size. Suitable for GCSE students learning about sound and can build towards practice exam questions. Answers are included in a separate file.
These questions are used to help students practice longer Python coding questions that they will encounter in GCSE exams. The pseudocode style where included is based on AQA, and each question comes with a mark scheme showing where marks are scored. Again, this is based around AQA’s mark schemes (i.e. awarding marks for including selection, for example).
This set contains 8 programming questions and mark schemes for each. In separate uploads I have the powerpoint used in lessons to help deliver specific lessons which build up towards answering the longer programming questions in this set.
The order I used them (with the intent of increasing difficulty as we went along):
1 - Phone Bill Calculator
2 - Note Changer
3 - Swimming Pool
4 - Guessing Game
5 - Substrings and functions
6 - Sports Day (function)
7 - Linear Search Array
8 - Inverting Image (2D array)
These questions are used to help students practice longer pseudocode questions that they will encounter in GCSE exams. The pseudocode style is based on AQA, and each question comes with a mark scheme showing where marks are scored. Again, this is based around AQA’s mark schemes (i.e. awarding marks for including selection, for example).
This set contains 8 pseudocode questions and mark schemes for each. In separate uploads I have the powerpoint used in lessons to help deliver specific lessons which build up towards answering the longer pseudocode questions in this set.
The order I used them (with the intent of increasing difficulty as we went along):
1 - Phone Bill Calculator
2 - Note Changer
3 - Swimming Pool
4 - Guessing Game
5 - Substring
6 - Sports Day
7 - Linear Search Array
8 - Inverting Image (2D array)
This resource consists of a PowerPoint presentation giving information about the CPU. It also has links to youtube and revision games to play at the end.
This is the fourth lesson in the 'How a Computer Works' topic.
This resource contains a PowerPoint presentation to introduce different types of storage, another containing questions for the main activity (each will need to be printed for each team), and information sheets for the students to research the answers to the questions. It is best to keep these on the computer, rather than print them for each student.
For the main activity, students team up in 3s, and take the first question from the teacher. They use the information sheets to find out the answer, write it down and then bring it up to check with the teacher. If correct, they hand back the first question and take the second. If incorrect, they go back to find the correct answer. The winning team is the first to answer all 10 questions.
Questions and answers are also included in a text file for easy access for the teacher.
This is the eighth lesson in the topic 'How a Computer Works'.
This PowerPoint can be used to show students the components that go inside a computer. I used a laptop disassembly to go along with this, but have left in slides including images of the different components so it can be used without.
Following this the students go online to look at important features of each component, and how they work to make the computer as a whole work.
This is the second lesson in the 'How a Computer Works' topic.
This lesson is the ninth in the 'How a Computer Works' topic.
It includes a PowerPoint presentation for the teacher to talk through each type of storage, which can build on the main task in the previous lesson. Towards the end the students can create a table to fill in information about each type of storage. There is also a template for this included for weaker students.
This is the first in a series of eight Python programming lessons/revision (based on AQA specification) that have helped my GCSE classes improve their long answer programming question technique. The lessons built up towards working with 2D arrays and functions in time for the exams.
Included is the exam-style question, mark scheme and the powerpoint used to help deliver a lesson building up towards answering the longer code question. The powerpoint includes information about the specific code features as well as some warm up code questions. Some of the powerpoints include theory as well, for example arrays or string handling if necessary to answer the longer code question.
Included is a presentation reviewing the Bubble Sort method, and an interactive Excel activity that can is self-marking and can give students immediate feedback.
There is also a help sheet for anyone who has missed the Bubble Sort theory or needs help with the activities, and differentiated instructions for writing a Bubble Sort program (I used Visual Basic but the code hints could be adapted to another language quickly).
I have also included the lesson plan that I used for a lesson observation. There are notes on AfL and differentiation included in the plan.
This is the second in a series of eight Python programming lessons/revision (based on AQA specification) that have helped my GCSE classes improve their long answer programming question technique. The lessons built up towards working with 2D arrays and functions in time for the exams.
Included is the exam-style question, mark scheme and the powerpoint used to help deliver a lesson building up towards answering the longer code question. The powerpoint includes information about the specific code features as well as some warm up code questions. Some of the powerpoints include theory as well, for example arrays or string handling if necessary to answer the longer code question.