Code and Construct a Creature: A CompSci / Engineering Mashup

Outline

Content and Engagement: In this interactive session, participants will ditch their laptops and engage in a hands-on, team-based project where they’ll code, construct, and use computer science basics and communication skills to help their peers replicate their creatures. The core content focuses on teaching key computer science principles such as input, processing, and output, using tangible, craft-based materials. We will also explore how to extend the project into literacy and life sciences, making it a versatile tool for cross-curricular learning.

Engagement Tactics: Throughout the session, participants will:

Collaborate in small teams to create creatures, rotating roles to simulate real-world coding and engineering processes.
Develop clear step-by-step "code" for each phase of the project with a goal to create instructions for a replica of the original creature, emphasizing the importance of communication and teamwork.

Engage in peer reflection, sharing challenges, solutions, and insights to deepen the learning experience.

Brainstorm ways to adapt the project for various grade levels and subjects, ensuring relevance to their classrooms.

Process:
Participants will begin by brainstorming and designing their creatures, focusing on how core CS concepts apply to their construction.
Teams will work together using input, processing and output functions to replicate their creatures, with frequent check-ins to encourage problem-solving, communication, and collaboration.

The session will culminate in a reflection on the project’s outcomes, with a focus on communication breakdowns, successes, and how to adapt the project for individual teaching environments.

Cross-curricular Extensions:
We will explore how to expand the project into other subject areas. For example, by focusing on life science, students could examine adaptations and biomimicry, analyzing how their creatures might survive in different environments based on their morphology. In literacy, educators could guide students to use their creatures as main characters in creative storytelling, integrating both science and imagination. We will encourage participants to suggest additional extensions to provide opportunities for deeper, multidisciplinary engagement.

Takeaways:
Educators will leave equipped to weave computer science basics into cross-curricular, team-building projects that foster a broader, more authentic, and highly engaging learning experience. They will gain hands-on strategies for integrating coding with other subjects, creating dynamic and inclusive classroom environments that promote collaboration, creativity, and deeper learning for all students.

Supporting research

1. Bell, T., Witten, I. H., & Fellows, M. (2009). "CS Unplugged: Computer Science Without a Computer."

2. Brackmann, C. P., Barone, D., Casali, A., & Munoz, D. (2017). "The impact of CS Unplugged on the development of computational thinking and its effects on learning."