Dec 7th, 2020 — All Subjects

Hour of Code Activities and Resources

Computer Science Education Week is here, and the PASCO team is ready to help your students get coding!

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What is Computer Science Education Week?

Every year, educators and coders around the globe join together to celebrate Computer Science Education. There is a wealth of free activities available to educators online, including activities, challenges, and group projects designed to help teachers of all subjects introduce their students to computer science.

Hour of Code

Hour of Code activities arose from Computer Science Education Week and have since become popular in schools around the world. Designed to get students involved in programming, Hour of Code activities can range from simple, one-class introductions to coding to multi-day coding challenges among students. Because of their popularity, there are tons of flexible Hour of Code activities that can be used to highlight computer science in your course with little to no preparation.

PASCO Hour of Code Activities

The PASCO team did a special Hour of Code edition of PASCO Live, which included a simple coding activity that students can perform without any prior coding experience. They used a mobile, onboard accelerometer and the free SPARKvue app with built-in Blockly coding to create a simple, data-driven program. This is a quick and simple activity that can be completed using a smartphone or tablet with an onboard accelerometer, making it the perfect Hour of Code activity for hybrid and distance learners. 

PASCO Software with Blockly Integration

Both Capstone and SPARKvue now include a Blockly coding integration that allows users to program with PASCO sensors and interfaces. Students can use block-based coding to program parameters for sensor data collection, to create data-driven feedback loops, to design custom data displays within the software and so much more.

Hour of Code Webinar

New to coding? We’re here to help! Our professional development specialists recently hosted a free Hour of Code webinar to help educators learn to code with PASCO software. The webinar walks viewers through the installation process, Blockly dashboard, and code creation process. All that’s required to participate is a smartphone or tablet with onboard sensors and the free SPARKvue app. This activity is designed to help educators, who have little to no experience with programming, get started using Blockly coding in their science courses. A recording of the webinar is available below, along with downloadable resources for educators who wish to use the activity, or others, in their course (see bottom of page for complete files).