Ideas for sanbox projects

Now that students can create, save, and share projects of their own design, how might you use that in the classroom? Are there word problems already in your curriculum that would lend themselves to programming projects?

I think this would be great to just pull up on the Smartboard during class to test a theory and talk out a word problem. My kids won’t always have a device but we can still work out problems using out coding language to logically think it out.

I think this will be a great first step in problem solving and helping kids to develop a solution plan!

One of my students is much more advanced than the rest in code. he feels blocks are too childish, It would be great for him work on the same problems, but with a higher degree of problem solving.

I love the idea of letting kids tackle word problems from their textbooks using code.org. The free play areas will also help the students who grasp the concepts quickly to have something meaningful to work on while I help out some of the kiddos that are struggling.

I look forward to integrating the Calculator feature in my Order of Operations units.

This will be great to peak interest in word problems. It’ll give a different way of solving because students will think they’re working on the computer vs just solving problems from a book. This will also allow students to explore/work at their own level.

As we completed evaluation blocks in the program, my students were loving it. I can see giving them a problem and having them use evaluation blocks to complete it. Much more fun.

With all of the tools for free play, I’ll have students writing codes to solve some of the application problems in the textbook

I think it would be beneficial to have students to take what we are learning, i.e. order of operations, and apply it in the sanbox form as a reinforcement to what we are learning and give them an opportunity to demonstrate that they really do understand the concept.

I like what tdraper mentioned concerning order of operations. This will help students show how much they understand about order of operations and how much it is due to lack of skill with their operations.

we are doing problem based learning so starlogo would provide a great way to create simulations.

It would be great if code.org created a few worksheets designed for students to build various programs in order to solve the problems on the sheet. Students could create a program to solve a complicated problem, then plug in numbers to answer the next several questions on the worksheet.

It would be good to use the tools to let students help each other. Maybe build tools to see how changing the variable in equations = a change in answers.

The new tools will sure help students make a better connection of coding and math and their relation.

This will serve us well in our upcoming Pythagoras unit. I think solving problems with blocks will allow students to try out ideas. I can see multiple entry points for students–some creating a basic hypotenuse solver, some creating leg solvers, and some attacking the problem of a full triangle solver.

Have you checked out Bootstrap? Sounds like your student is more than ready. :smile:

I would probably try to customize a word problem so that it meets a STEM engineering assignment. That way I could use this as an extension of another class assignment and make the unit more cohesive.

I am using word problems that are multi-step and turning them into open-ended functions. The students then create the function with the code and test it with several input values. This makes the multi-step word problems more fun because the students logically create their own “fancy calculator” for each problem.

I do consensus problems of the week with students and I would like to introduce them to coding and have students think through the steps using the sandbox.