Physical Computational Thinking
July 31, 2015 12:15 PM Subscribe
What are some fun physical games and activities that can be used to teach computational thinking? Good topics would be algorithmic processes, graph and network theory, cryptography, boolean logic, computational problem solving, etc. These would be for beginners, but examples at any level (elementary, primary, college) are welcome.
probably not what you had in mind, but perhaps a fun interlude for a class:
"Bubble-sort with Hungarian ('Csángó') folk dance"
posted by mr vino at 1:09 PM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
"Bubble-sort with Hungarian ('Csángó') folk dance"
posted by mr vino at 1:09 PM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
Carcassonne and Akrotiri are fun two-player games that involve graph theory in very non-theoretical ways. Carcassonne can also be played with three or more players, but it doesn't have as much back and forth and so isn't as much fun, IMHO.
In Carcassonne, there are different scoring mechanisms depending on how a series of tiles are played. The game mechanics are underpinned with graph theory. The literal edges of tiles are edges in a network. You score points by building larger networks of different kinds. Building farms requires connecting tile edges with open fields. Building larger cities requires connecting tile edges with city components. Building a longer road requires connecting an existing road "node" to edges on a played tile.
In Akrotiri, both players construct progressively larger graphs between islands in ancient Greece, with the goal of conducting trade and scoring points. Islands are nodes, and trade routes between and within islands are edges. Routes within islands are "longer" and can reduce the amount of distance that can be traveled — you might think of these as weighted edges. Given the set of tiles in your hand, you must decide how to build certain kinds of networks that benefit you and also limit the other player's options.
These are games that can be played by beginners at any education or age level, probably 4th- or 5th-graders and up, all the way to grad students and PhDs.
posted by a lungful of dragon at 1:47 PM on July 31, 2015
In Carcassonne, there are different scoring mechanisms depending on how a series of tiles are played. The game mechanics are underpinned with graph theory. The literal edges of tiles are edges in a network. You score points by building larger networks of different kinds. Building farms requires connecting tile edges with open fields. Building larger cities requires connecting tile edges with city components. Building a longer road requires connecting an existing road "node" to edges on a played tile.
In Akrotiri, both players construct progressively larger graphs between islands in ancient Greece, with the goal of conducting trade and scoring points. Islands are nodes, and trade routes between and within islands are edges. Routes within islands are "longer" and can reduce the amount of distance that can be traveled — you might think of these as weighted edges. Given the set of tiles in your hand, you must decide how to build certain kinds of networks that benefit you and also limit the other player's options.
These are games that can be played by beginners at any education or age level, probably 4th- or 5th-graders and up, all the way to grad students and PhDs.
posted by a lungful of dragon at 1:47 PM on July 31, 2015
We did a demo for middle-schoolers, about how the types of commands you give in programming need to be really specific. We put jars of peanut butter and jam, and a knife, and a loaf of sandwich bread on a table, and one of us stood behind the table. I say "Dr. Smith is a robot. Robots only do exactly what you tell them to. We're going to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. What's the first thing I should tell Robot-Smith?" And they say "take a slice of bread... nonono, open the bag! nonono, take the clip off the bag!" Good for a silly and engaging demonstration of how to break a task down into small steps, and the fact that if you start a program doing something (like turning a jar lid) you need to then tell it to stop, or it will keep turning the jar lid forever. And Dr Smith had a great time.
posted by aimedwander at 2:15 PM on July 31, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by aimedwander at 2:15 PM on July 31, 2015 [5 favorites]
Robot Turtles is pretty cool game for teaching programming, patterns, and algorithms to the preschool/kindergarten age group.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 4:52 PM on July 31, 2015
posted by SuperSquirrel at 4:52 PM on July 31, 2015
Seconding Carcassone for graph theory.
Some low-rent ideas I've had:
Give N pieces of something with the task of arranging them into a rectangle to teach factoring. Can go cuboid with with Lego blocks too.
Put together configurations of switches and lights to introduce boolean circuits.
posted by redlines at 8:32 PM on July 31, 2015
Some low-rent ideas I've had:
Give N pieces of something with the task of arranging them into a rectangle to teach factoring. Can go cuboid with with Lego blocks too.
Put together configurations of switches and lights to introduce boolean circuits.
posted by redlines at 8:32 PM on July 31, 2015
Minecraft! Specifically, "redstone" circuitry. It allows you to build all kinds of contraptions in-game based on logic processing. People have even built functional redstone computers running inside the game.
Here's a downloadable map that lets you interact with some of the basic redstone mechanisms.
posted by monospace at 9:00 PM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
Here's a downloadable map that lets you interact with some of the basic redstone mechanisms.
posted by monospace at 9:00 PM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
Towers of Hanoi, obviously!
posted by Dr Dracator at 10:43 PM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Dr Dracator at 10:43 PM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by wenat at 12:35 PM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]