Participate and share: Interactive session 
Participants will hear about two science units that integrate computational thinking(CT) with both robotics (using Beebots or other available robots) and programming (using Scratch Jr. or other available programs) and be inspired to identify lessons for similar integration in their own curriculum.
Participants will discuss implementation challenges with resources and time and hear about some ways to implement these lessons with limited resources and diverse population needs.
Specific classroom management strategies will be shared to help participants think about how they structure their lessons and handle materials.
Participants will deepen their understanding of the connection between computational thinking in the context of science through our specific examples and through the crowdsourcing of shared examples.
Participants will have access to a crowdsourced collection of identified lessons or areas for CT and subject integration using robotics and game design.
Participants will see examples of formative and summative assessments to demonstrate student growth through the process of these units.
Participants will have access to a folder of resources with lesson plans, student templates for planning, teacher templates, sample formative assessments, and sample student work.
For evidence of success, we will share student feedback from our lessons and how participants can gather similar feedback from their students to improve lessons. We will also share data from our summative and formative assessments.
5 minutes - Use Mentimeter to poll the audience to see what grades and subjects everyone in the room works with, their role (coach, teacher, administrator), and their experience designing lessons incorporating computational thinking.
5 minutes - Introduce ourselves and our unique class that combines K & 1 Science, Design & Technology, talk about the ISTE and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) that we utilize in our computational thinking (CT) lessons and the importance of introducing CT to our youngest students, and why CT is meaningful in science classrooms as teachers are tasked with engaging students in science and engineering practices
15 minutes - Robotics in the science classroom - we will share a unit that integrates robotics and science content, highlighting the skills learned and where the ISTE standards and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) standards converge, as well as discuss how we assess evidence of understanding of CT concepts, both summatively and formatively.
10 minutes - Attendees will turn and talk to other participants to discuss what other topics in the science classroom or other classes lend themselves to this type of robotics integration. Participants will add to a Padlet we share to crowdsource ideas and share resources people may have.
15 minutes - Game Design in the science classroom - We will share a unit where students created a shadow matching game using the Scratch Jr. platform. Students apply their understanding of the science concept of the behavior of light to successfully create a matching game. Games are differentiated based on student abilities for conceptual understanding of both science and computational thinking skills. We will discuss how we assess students throughout the process.
10 minutes - Participants will form new groups of 3-4 people to talk about how they can use game design for assessment and student demonstrations of knowledge. Again, we will ask participants to crowdsource their ideas in our shared Padlet, sharing thoughts on opportunities for grade level and subject integration. Coaches can consider where they see this most applicable in their schools.
This project has the potential to support the educational technology field by contributing information related to work at the elementary level. Creative Computational Thinking in Elementary Science: Standards in Practice aims to improve engagement and access to computational thinking (CT) for all of our students at a young age. By integrating CT into the science curricula areas of life, physical and earth sciences in first grade, we provide a foundational opportunity to develop CT practices for all students, especially those who are underrepresented in CS. The benefit of this integration has been described at the high school level (Bain, 2020). This strategy further attends to equity because our lessons leverage a student-centered focus. The reciprocal nature of the science and CT practices are explicit, and promote student understanding of these skills in both disciplines, as noted through research at the high school level (Rich, 2022).
References:
Bain, C., Wilensky, U., (2020). Vectors of CT-ification: Integrating Computational Activities in STEM Classrooms. Poster presented at SIGCSE ’20, March 11–14, 2020, Portland, OR, USA
McGowan, V., Klein, E., & Morrison, D. (2019). Engaging Students in Computational Thinking During Science Investigations. STEM Teaching Tools Initiative, Institute for Science + Math Education. Seattle, WA: University of Washington. Retrieved from https://stemteachingtools.org/brief/56
National Research Council. (2012). A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Committee on a Conceptual Framework for New K-12 Science Education Standards. Board on Science Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13165.
Pinder, N. (2022) Understanding problems with computational thinking: decomposition.
ISTE blog. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/explore/computational-thinking/understanding-problems-computational-thinking-decomposition
Rich, et.al. (2022).High School Science Teacher Use of Planning Tools to Integrate Computational Thinking. Journal of Science Teacher Education. Vol 33, 598-620.
Sykora, C. (2021). Computational thinking for all. ISTE blog. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/explore/computational-thinking/computational-thinking-all
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