Soda Constructor: Exploring the laws of Physics with Computational Thinking Paul Curzon Queen Mary University of London With support from, Department for Education, Google and the Mayor of London

Aims Give you deeper understanding of core topics –Computational Thinking –Computational Modeling –Computational thinking and physics Newton’s laws, gravity, friction, Hooke’s Law (springs) Give you practical ways to teach computing and physics in a fun, thought provoking way Linked activity sheets and booklets can be downloaded from our website:

Algorithmic Thinking and Physics Why does algorithmic thinking matter to a physicist? We can build computational models (algorithms) to explore their theories –Help them better understand Computational models also give a powerful way to learn through exploration For example, we can explore Newton’s Laws by creating a model of them

Soda Constructor sodaplay.com Draw pictures that come to life –Dots are masses –Lines are springs –Turn springs into muscles give energy boosts Soda constructor is –a line and dot drawing programme –and a 2D virtual world A computational model of the basic laws of physics –Newton’s Laws –Gravity, Friction –Hooke’s Law (springs) Explore the effects of the laws

A Lurching Triangle A simple creature to start with is a triangle that lurches along Make each edge a muscle –Make them work together Play eg with the effects of changing gravity and friction –Using the sliders –Lifting it and dropping it Try adapting it Notice how creatures are made of triangles to give them structural strength

Explore … Different kinds of locomotion … –Slug-like –Wheel-like –Walking-like –How many legs? Interactive art …

Computational Thinking Algorithmic thinking –Turn theories into algorithms that simulate the real world things we are trying to understand Abstraction –Didn’t model every detail of the real world just the laws of interest Evaluation –We use the algorithms to evaluate our understanding of the real world

More support On our website to support this session: Activity sheets Story sheets Slides Details of more worskshops/courses free unplugged sessions subsidised courses (e.g. GCSE programming)

Thank you! Together we are Teaching London Computing