Lesson 1: Intro to Problem Solving

45 minutes

Overview Objectives
This lesson is a fun introduction to the open-ended, Students will be able to:
collaborative, and creative problem-solving students will be
using over the rest of this unit and course. Students work in Communicate and collaborate with
groups to design aluminum foil boats that will support as classmates in order to solve a
many pennies as possible. Groups have two rounds to work problem
on their boats, with the goal of trying to hold more pennies Identify different strategies used to
than they did in round 1. The structure of the activity solve a problem
foreshadows different steps of the problem-solving Iteratively improve a solution to a
process that students will be introduced to in more detail in
problem
the following lesson. At the end of the lesson, students
reflect on their experiences with the activity and make
connections to the types of problem-solving they will be Preparation
doing for the rest of the course
For each group
Question of the Day: What can help us to work together
and solve problems as a team? 2 sheets of aluminum foil, 5x5
Alternate versions of this lesson are also available. inches in length each
1 container that can hold 3-5 inches
Newspaper Table of water
Spaghetti Bridge Several paper towels or rags that
Paper Tower can be placed under the container
15 pennies
One copy of the activity guide
Standards Full Course Alignment
For the teacher
CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)
1 container that can hold 3-5 inches
AP - Algorithms & Programming
of water
50 pennies
Extra paper towels or rags
Agenda Check the "Teacher's Lounge"
Tech Setup forum for verified teachers to find
additional strategies or resources
CSD Pre-Course Survey
shared by fellow teachers
Warm Up (5 minutes) If you are teaching virtually,
Set the Stage consider checking our Virtual
Lesson Modifications
Activity (35 minutes)
Building an Aluminum Boat
Goal and Rules Links
Develop a Plan
Test Your Boat Heads Up! Please make a copy of
Evaluate and Improve any documents you plan to share
with students.
Wrap Up (5 minutes)
 Discuss the Challenge For the teachers
Reflection
Code.org How-to Videos
Intro to Problem Solving - Slides
 Make a Copy

For the students

Aluminum Boats - Activity Guide

 Make a Copy

Teaching Guide

Tech Setup
Throughout the year, in order for you to be able to see student work, and for students to be able to access
online tools and resources, all students need to be in the same section on Code Studio. To see
assessments and answer keys that Code.org provides, you also need to be a "verified teacher".

 Teaching Tip 

How-To Videos: The following steps are also covered in a series of Code.org How-to Videos available
on Code.org's Teacher Support website. You may decide to watch these videos before reading the
instructions below.

Preparing for the Unit

Getting Started with Code.org: Consider watching our Getting Started with Code.org video series for an
overview of how to navigate lesson plans, setup a classroom section, and other important features of the
Code.org platform. Each video also has a support article if you'd prefer to read or print instructions - click
here to learn more.

Setup a Classroom Section: You can use a class section in Code.org to manage your students, view their
progress, and assign specific curriculum - click here to learn more.

If you are using a learning management system, there may be additional steps to sync your classes with
Code.org:

Click here for steps to setup your classes with Google Classroom
Click Here for steps to setup your classes with Clever

Become a Verified Teacher: Lesson plans and levels have additional resources and answer keys for Verified
Teachers, which is quick process that verifies your position at an educational institution. Click here to
complete a form and you should have access to verified teacher resources in ~1 business day. Verified
teachers also have access to the "Teacher's Lounge" section of the forums.

Get Inspired: Consider watching our Teacher Tips video playlist, featuring current CS Discoveries teachers.

Technical Requirements: For the very best experience with all Code.org content, we recommend
consulting with your school or district's IT department to ensure specific sites are allowed and are not
blocked. Click here to see a list of sites to unblock.
You can also find mobile and tablet support details, hardware recommendation information such as
minimum Internet connection speed, smallest screen size supported, and other hardware
recommendations, as well as a list of supported browsers and platforms at the same technical
requirements website.

At the beginning of class

1. Have students create a Code Studio account at https://studio.code.org if they don't already have one
2. Share the section Join URL with students and tell them to navigate to it to join your section
You can confirm that a student successfully joined your section by having the section progress
page on the Teacher Home Page open and hitting refresh as students join. Students should see a
small green bar at the top of their page that says 'You've successfully joined ...'
3. From studio.code.org have students locate the Computer Science Discoveries tile and click 'View
course', then go to Unit 1.

Once students are looking at the Unit 1 overview page, they will be ready to take the CSD Pre-Course
survey

CSD Pre-Course Survey

Important! Have your students take the CSD Pre-Course Survey!
Students can find a link to the survey in Code Studio as the first item on the Unit 1 overview page. To
ensure that students only take the survey at the appropriate time, it is "locked" and unviewable by them
until you "unlock" the survey. The How to Administer a Locked Assessment support article provides details
on how to do that when you are ready. Note that the instructions for administering an assessment and a
survey are the same.

How much time does it take? The survey does take some time - it is roughly 30 questions. You might
consider administering it on an admin day at school, or as an early homework.

When should I give the survey? Because it is a pre-course survey it is important that students take it as
early in the course as possible before they have had much (or any) exposure to the class so that we may
accurately gauge changes in attitudes and beliefs caused by the course.

 Teaching Tip 

A major goal of CS Discoveries is to broaden participation in computer science.

It is crucial therefore to have insight into students' attitudes and beliefs about computer science
before the course so that we can measure the amount of change that occurred after the course is
over.

Please note that this survey is anonymous for students

Completing it also helps us understand important improvements we can make to the curriculum to
improve the teacher and student experience.

Please help by having your students contribute to this vital dataset. Their voices make the difference!
Warm Up (5 minutes)
Set the Stage

Prompt: What makes someone a good problem solver? Be ready to share three ideas with your group.

 Teaching Tip 

Journaling: Journaling is a key practice in CS Discoveries. Students can journal on loose leaf paper, in
notebooks, or digitally.

Slides: Slides for this unit are available in the "Teacher Resources" section of the lesson plan. You will be
prompted to make a copy, which you will only need to do once - after that, you may use the slides for
each lesson in the curriculum.

Discuss: Allow students to share answers at their table groups or with a partner, then have those who are
comfortable share with the whole class.

Discussion Goal: The goal of this warm-up is to start students thinking about problem-solving in
preparation for the day's activity. Highlight answers that reinforce key practices in the class, such as
collaboration, persistence, and creativity. This is also a chance to reinforce a positive culture that
encourages students to share out and support each other in brainstorming ideas.

 Remarks
Those are all great ideas! In computer science, we have to solve problems all of the time, so we'll be
looking back at all of these problem solving skills today and for the rest of the course. Most of the
problem solving that people do in computer science happens in teams. Today, we're going to work in
teams to solve a fun problem that doesn't need computers. While you work on that problem, here's a
question that you can think about.

Display: Show students the Question of the Day

Question of the Day: What can help us to work together and solve problems as a team?

Activity (35 minutes)

Building an Aluminum Boat

Group: Put students in groups of 2 or 3.

 Remarks
Today we're going to be building aluminum boats. You'll have an opportunity to build at least two boats
and use your experience with each one to improve your designs. Before we get started, decide as a
group what kind of design you'd like to make with your first boat. Record your ideas and any possible
weaknesses of this design on your activity guide.

Distribute: One copy of the activity guide to each group.

 Teaching Tip 
 Getting Copies of Google Docs: Activity Guides in this curriculum are available as Google Docs, Word
Docs, and PDFs. If you'd like to edit or make your own copy of a Google Doc you may without
requesting access. Simply log in with a Google account, click "File" and "Make a copy" from the menu.
You may then share your own copy with your students.

Goal and Rules

As a class, read through the Goal and Rules sections of the activity guide and answer questions.

 Teaching Tip 

This activity can get your room wet! Ideally, each group should have its own bucket/container with
water to conduct its own tests. If needed, you can have several groups share one container, but be
mindful to set guidelines for sharing that container. Place towel/rag under each container. You may also
want to consider teaching this activity in the hallway or some other space if your room is very
restrictive, or add in additional rules as necessary.

Develop a Plan

Give students a couple minutes to discuss in groups the approach they will be taking with this first boat.
Once groups have recorded their ideas and some possible weaknesses they can come to you to get their
aluminum foil and begin building their boats.

 Teaching Tip 

Hold onto the foil until students submit a plan for their boat. The goal isn't to slow them down too much,
but just give them a moment to reflect briefly on the possible approaches they could take. This is one
way this activity foreshadows the Planning step of the problem solving process students will see in
subsequent lessons.

Test Your Boat

Once groups are ready, have them test their boats by dropping individual pennies into the boat. Remind
them of the rules, specifically that they can't touch or adjust the boats once they're in the water. Have
them record the total number of pennies held on their activity guides.

Evaluate and Improve

 Remarks
 This first attempt at building our boats was just to get familiar with the challenge. We're all going to build
a second boat and see if we can improve the number of pennies our boats held. Before we get started
though, let's see what we can learn from this trial run.

Share: Have students share the results of their first run with neighboring groups. Ask groups to focus
particularly on what the eventual failure of their boat was (e.g. it wasn't deep enough, it was unstable, etc.)
and brainstorm ways to get around those problems.

 Teaching Tip 

While some students will view this portion as a competition, emphasize that each group is looking to
improve its own design, not competing against others. You are appealing for each student to challenge
themselves first, not others.

Develop a Plan

Prompt: Now that you've had a chance to learn from the first round of boat making, let's run the same
activity again. First, your group will develop a new plan. Just as before, record it on your activity guide, and
once you're ready I'll come around and give you a new piece of foil.

Support: As you circulate from group to group, ask questions about the group’s focus in redesign. EX:
“What aspect of your boat needed the most improvement?” “What ideas from other groups did you want
to incorporate to yours?” “Did you feel the need to completely restructure your boat, or make minor
modifications?”

Once groups have prepared their new plans give them a new piece of foil and have them each build a new
boat.

 Assessment Opportunity 

Iteratively improve a solution to a problem

In the Activity Guide, you can check for strengths and weaknesses in students' original design and
connections to appropriate changes for the next iteration of the project.

Identify different strategies used to solve a problem

You can also check their activity guide for strategies for overcoming the challenges in the activity. You
also may want to check the "strengths" of their designs that students list as part of developing their
plan on the second page of the guide.

Test Your Boat

Groups can test their designs just as before and record the results on their activity guides.

Reflect

Transition: Ask class to return to their own seats to reflect on the activity.
Wrap Up (5 minutes)
Discuss the Challenge

Question of the Day: What can help us to work together and solve problems as a team?

Prompt: You worked in teams for this activity. How did working in a team make this activity easier, how did
it make the activity more challenging? What helped your group overcome these challenges?

Discuss: Allow students time to share thoughts with the class.

 Assessment Opportunity 

Students may recognize that collaboration allowed them to think through their ideas more thoroughly
or that they were able to split up the work that they needed to do. As students list challenges, ensure
that they are coming up with ways to overcome those challenges. If you have noticed any issues in
group dynamics during the activity, you may want to use this time to bring up these as potential
problems in a non-confrontational way and help students to generate strategies for working together
more effectively in future activities. These can serve as classroom norms for group work moving
forward.

 Remarks
All of your thoughts around these questions were great. We're going to be doing a lot of teamwork in this
class. You may be used to thinking about computer science as being all about computers, but first and
foremost computer science is about solving problems, and usually that happens in teams. A lot of other
parts of this activity like improving designs, and building things is also going to be a big part of this class. I
hope you're excited for the year. Tomorrow we'll start digging deeper into problem solving itself.

Reflection

Code Studio: Have students answer 5 quick survey questions at the beginning of this unit. Once at least 5
students have completed the survey you will be able to view the anonymized results in the Teacher
Dashboard. Some of these questions will be asked again at the end of the first project, which can be helpful
in seeing student growth and shifts in attitudes throughout the unit.

 1


Check-In Survey

This work is available under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

If you are interested in licensing Code.org materials for commercial purposes contact us.