This edition of the Computing at School newsletter, from a time of extensive curriculum change, includes:

*Arguments for teaching computational thinking

*Introduction to Arduino

*A short article about JavaScript in secondary schools

This early edition of the Computing at School (CAS) newsletter includes articles on Scratch programming and curriculum structure in lower secondary school. Also, videos showing the importance of maths in computer science are highlighted.

With this simulation, students build an understanding of solution concentration by varying amounts of solute, solvent, and solution. Experimenting with several different chemicals in solid and concentrated solution form, students can develop qualitative and quantitative relationships.

Learning objectives...

This practical activity allows students to explore how nature creates calcium carbonate, a compound needed to manufacture cement, at ambient temperatures and using abundant, readily available raw materials. The cement used in concrete is manufactured from calcium carbonate, which is extracted from open-pit mines....

This short film from the Technology Enhancement Programme (TEP) is one of a series of clips which were produced to demonstrate the properties and use of a range of smart materials.

This fabric looks and feels like ordinary Lycra but is highly conductive. It can be cut into narrow strips to form conducting ‘...

This Pedagogics resource uses the following quote from the Chinese philosopher Confucius: "Tell me...and I will forget. Show me... and I will remember. Involve me... and I will understand"

Produced by the Technology Enhancement Programme (TEP), these images are useful for add to documents, presentations or for use with an interactive whiteboard. Mainly simple line drawings, they can be cut and pasted into documents and image processing applications. The images in this resource are related to the...

These technical briefs look at the ways Practical Action have helped poor communities to make the best use of their own labour and to use locally produced building materials and techniques that they can afford and manage.

Technical briefs are documents produced by Practical Action which are freely available...

This STEMNET resource describes the background and career of STEM Ambassador Colin Glen, a project engineer working in a construction company.

Colin has worked on many great buildings in London. He is part of a team that ensures the comnpany's design, plans and construction meet the required specifications...

This collection of resources, set in the context of the construction industry, offer challenges and activities linked to maths, science and careers.

This resource from Defence Dynamics looks at the military’s historical (and current) use of constructions and mathematical accuracy in warfare and peacetime defence. Students are asked to draw constructions to represent how the military target hostile forces, stressing the importance of accuracy in calculations...

In this resource students analyse the benefits and concerns regarding genetic tests being sold to consumers. Information contained in genomes and implications upon health and identity are considered as part of the activity. The ethics and laws surrounding this procedure are examined. Accompanying slide...

This Cre8ate maths activity requires students to calculate areas of polygons and to appreciate the link with volumes of prisms. It may also involve detailed exploration of similarity.