SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION IN CSThis activity, created with help from the 2019 STEM Youth in Action Winner, Clyde

VanDyke, will take you on a science expedition in Colorado. The game teaches kids

computer science (CS) concepts and teamwork, while introducing them to a diverse

array of computer science careers.

STEPS

PLAY

The Messy Meter

Recommended Grades:Grades 6-8

Estimated Time:30 - 40 minutes

Subject:Computer Science

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

2 DICE

PRE-MADE PRINTOUTS

• Mesa game board

• Game pieces

• Flower tokens

• Flower key

• CS flash cards

1. Print out the game board and game pieces and cut them out. Tape together the two game board pieces to make one large board.

2. You’ll use the dice to decide where the flower tokens and the danger tokens will be placed. Place the flower tokens before the danger tokens. Start by rolling both dice. Add the numbers together and find that number on the horizontal axis. Roll both dice again and add them together to get the vertical access number. Place a token on the game board square where those numbers intersect. Repeat until all the flowers and then all the danger tokens have been placed. If the same

numbers come up, roll again until you get a blank space.

3. Each player should choose a different game piece and place it at the bottom of the Mesa game board. Each player rolls a die and whoever gets the highest number places their piece first. Only one game piece per space.

4. Decide as a team if you’ll use beginner or intermediate CS flash cards, create your own, or use a combination of both.

5. Take the CS flash cards, gently shuffle them, and place them in a pile face down.

1. You are part of an expedition team navigating the Mesa game board. Your mission is to collect all the plants and prepare them for input into your computer by correctly identifying them by their scientific names. Work collectively with all the other players to complete the mission. You are playing against the clock. To help speed your progress, use your knowledge of computer science - your team only has 20 minutes to complete the expedition before nightfall, when climbing the Mesa becomes too dangerous!

2. Players can only move vertically unless they reach a space with part of a Mesa on it. Then a player can move horizontally but only for as far as the ledge extends. At any point along a Mesa a player can resume their vertical movement.

3. Players cannot occupy the same space at the same time.

4. Players will take turns moving their pieces, going from youngest to oldest. Players can work together to strategize their moves and complete their mission.

5. On each player’s turn they can use up to two moves: a. 1 move - Move one square on the gameboard b. 1 move - Collect a plant

c. 2 moves - Move onto a Mesa space by

drawing a CS card

d. 2 moves - Attach to a climbing rope by drawing a CS card

6. Climbing ropes and Mesas can help speed up your team’s progress. To ‘attach’ to the climbing rope or to summit one of the Mesas will require two moves. To do so move your piece onto the rope or Mesa. Then have the player who’s turn came before you pull a card from the CS deck, they will read the question to you and will serve as the judge for whether your answer is correct. If you correctly answer the question you can immediately move to any space along the rope or Mesa’s length. If you answer incorrectly you are left hanging. On the next player’s turn they can choose to use one of their moves to save you by answering a new CS card question correctly. If they do, you can move anywhere along the rope or Mesa immediately. If they do not, then you are stuck there until your next turn.

7. To collect plants you must land on the space that the plant token occupies and use 1 move to collect the plant.

8. If a player lands on a danger token they must move back down the Mesa two spaces towards start. The player then collects that token. If any player collects three danger tokens the game ends and your expedition fails.

9. To win your expedition team must collect

Explanation: Solving some of today’s biggest problems requires teams of experts working across disciples, building off each other’s research and working with professionals in computer science. One of the many emerging fields that uses computer science is computational sustainability. Computational sustainability is a new interdisciplinary research field that uses computational models, methods, and tools to help manage the balance of environmental, economic, and societal needs for a sustainable future. In this new field, computer scientists work alongside wildlife conservationists, marine biologists, doctors and others to improve their work and help make a positive impact on the world. This activity is designed to help youth and adults think about how computer science can help professionals in any field make their work more efficient or solve problems. The possibilities are limitless for how computer science can be used to change the world for the better. If you’d like to learn more about computational sustainability, check out this great resource from Cornell: https://computational-sustainability.cis.cornell.edu/. For access to more 4-H computer science activities visit 4-H.org/NYSD

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Find this and other great STEM activities at Shop4-H.org/STEM

Questions to Engage Youth:

1. What was the most challenging part of collecting all the flowers?

2. What kind of activities do you love? How could you combine these with computer science to create a new field?

3. Do you think you could win the game playing by yourself?

4. If you play again, what will you do differently? How might you work better as a team?

all of the plant specimens and uncover their scientific names by matching them to the pictures on the flower key. All players must also make it to the top of the Mesa before the time is up.

10. When you’re ready, begin your 20 minute timer!

Colorado Blue Columbine(Aquilegia caerulea)Blooms: June - August

Monkshood(Aconitum)Blooms: Late June - late August

Western Ironweed(Vernonia baldwinii)Blooms: August - September

Ute Ladies’ Tresses Orchid(Spiranthes diluvialisBlooms: July - August

Tulip Gentian(Eustoma grandiflorum)Blooms: July and August

Rocky Mountain Bee Plant(Cleome serrulata)Blooms: May - September

Subalpine larkspur(Delphinium barbeyi)Blooms: June - August

Monument plant(Frasera speciosa)Blooms: July - August

1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7. 8.

Print & Cut

Obstacles: Cut on dotted line. 6 obstacle pieces

Flower Tokens: Cut on dotted line. 8 flower tokens

Player Pieces

Flower Key

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6.1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

2. 3. 4. 5.

7. 8. 9. 10. 11.7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

What is another name for a monitor?

A. Computer ScreenB. PrinterC. Mouse D. Keyboard

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Which of the choices is an input device?

A. PrinterB. Fax MachineC. MonitorD. Microphone

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Which part of the computer is responsible for storing information?

A. MonitorB. KeyboardC. Disk DriveD. Mouse

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

What language do computers use to process data?

A. PythonB. BinaryC. HTMLD. Byte

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

What describes all input and output devices ina computer system?

A. MonitorB. SoftwareC. Hardware

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

What do you call the results you get from a computer?

A. OutputB. InputC. StorageD. Space

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

In computer coding, what does a loop refer to?

A. The creation of an emoji

B. When you write instructions for your computer that repeat

C. When you make a mistake and have to go back and edit it

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Do uploads make a computer receive or send data?

A. ReceiveB. Send

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Explain why decomposition is important to computer science:

Answer: Decomposition is important because it helps you break down problems into smaller more manage-able steps, and computers need these small steps to do a task correctly.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

What is automation?

A. Making an image moveB. Having computers create things on their ownC. Having computers or machines do repetitive tasksD. None of the above

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

What is optimal efficiency and how is it used in everyday life?

Answer: Optimal efficiency is achieving maximum productivity with minimum waste. Ex: It can be used in collecting grain, like in the 4-H NYSD Hack Your Harvest. It is also needed to win this game!

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

True or False: A computer program is a set of instructions that tells a computer how to perform a specific task.

Answer: True

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

What is a conditional?

Answer: A type of statement that tells you what to do based on the answer to a question, usually shown in programming languages with words like “if,” “then” and “else.”

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

True or False: Computer software is collection of instructions that tell a computer how to perform a group of tasks.

Answer: True

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

What is sequencing?

Answer: Putting things in order. When writing code, it’s important to carefully decide the order in which the code will run. Ex: In the 2019 4-H NYSD activity, kids used the popular online program, Scratch, to create a conversation between two characters specifying which character speaks first and which character responds. This is sequencing in action.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

True or False: Computers don’t vary in storage and speed.

Answer: False. They can vary in both.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

True or False: Computers can catch viruses, which can be harmful to the way a computer functions.

Answer: True

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

True or False:A computer will never run out of data.

Answer: False

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

What does an IP address represent?

A. LocationB. SpeedC. Storage

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

How many bits does a byte have?

A. 1 bitsB. 3 bitsC. 4 bitsD. 8 bits

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

What does 0 stand for in boolean data?

A. TrueB. False (correct answer)C. infinityD. none of the above

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

What isn’t measured in bits?

A. DownloadB. UploadC. BytesD. Storage

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

How many gigabytes are in 1 megabyte?

A. .1B. .01C. .001D. .0001

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

How many gigabytes is in 1 terabyte?

A. 10B. 100C. 1,000D. 10,000

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

What is the smallest unit of data in a computer?

A. BitB. ByteC. KilobyteD. Megabyte

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

What is broadband typically defined by?

A. SpaceB. SpeedC. Storage D. Length

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

What is an Internet Service Provider responsible for?

A. Fixing computerB. Providing newsC. Providing direct access to the internet

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

What is an example of a computer language?

A. PythonB. JavaC. HTMLD. All of the above

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

What does IP stand for?

A. Invented ProtocolB. Internet PrecisionC. Internet ProtocolD. Internet Pals

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Hardware includes:

A. Input DevicesB. Output DevicesC. MemoryD. All of the above

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

A computer saves information using RAM, what does it stand for?

Answer: Random Access Memory

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

True or False: Speed is measured in bits.

Answer: True

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

True or False: Speed is measured in bytes.

Answer: True

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

True or False: There are 8 bits in one byte.

Answer: True

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

True or False: Computer speeds tend to get slower as the computer gets older.

Answer: False.