Edexcel GCSE in Computer Science scheme of work for Year ...



Autumn term Year 11 Scheme of WorkGCSE (9-1) Computer SciencePearson Edexcel Level 1/Level 2 GCSE (9-1) in Computer Science (1CP1)Autumn term Year 11AssumptionsThis scheme of work is based on the assumption that the students have followed the Free Support Materials Schemes of Work for Year 10. If not, it is important to check the content of each lesson to confirm that it has or has not been previously covered. However even if it has already been covered teachers may find some of the suggestions and activities I the associated booklet useful to reinforce knowledge or use as revision. The lessons in the various schemes of work total 150 hours altogether (see course planner); the guided learning hours for GCSE Computer Science are 120. It is expected that centres will modify the schemes of work and the course planner as required to fit their own timetabling.The programming language used here is Python 3.0. Centres can of course use any of the other languages in the specification, namely Java and C-derived (C, C++, C#) and use equivalent examples from these languages.All the Year 11 resources now account for the revised submission date of 31 March as required by Ofqual. ExplanationsThe course has been broken down into six terms. Over the course, lessons are split into the six topics in the subject content and the colours in the schemes of work mirror the colours of the topics in the course planner.Weeks are numbered from one in each term and there are two lessons each week. This scheme of work details the content to be covered in the Autumn term of Year 11. Where applicable, problem solving and programming are taught together to increase computational thinking skills, which will also be used in the other subject content topics.The references to the specification represent the specification content that is covered in the lesson. During the problem solving and programming topics, many lessons cover a range of content but only the main specification reference is given. You are strongly advised to use the specification alongside this scheme of work.The lesson summary gives an overview of the lesson content. The title in bold refers to the subject content headings given for each topic in the specification.The lesson content gives suggestions on how this material could be taught. Example activities for each lesson are given in the activities files. The activities are numbered with the lesson number, for example Activity 1.2.3 is the third activity for Lesson 2 in Week 1. These activities are provided to give teachers ideas of activities and programming. Autumn term Year 11Week 1LessonSpec refLesson summaryLesson contentLesson resources13.3.1Problem solving and programmingWelcome students back. Explain the course for this year, go through overall course planner if you have used it.Problem solving activity: Go to and ask the students to complete the activity. You might want to copy out the activity rather than direct students to the website so that they do not go directly to the solution!Start problem solving and programming activity for this and next lesson which is Task 1 from the 2015 Controlled Assessment. This is a secure download from you do not have access to this speak to your examination office for advice.This task should take about 1 ? hours to complete.Homework: Issue Sample Assessment Material for NEA. Go through very briefly. Ask students to read through it and note down questions/comments to discuss next lesson. cs4fn, Queen Mary, University of London ().2015 Controlled Assessment Task 1 (legacy specification 2013)SAM NEA23.3.1Problem solving and programmingAsk students if they have any questions on the Sample Assessment Material issued for homework.Students should then complete Task 1 2015 Controlled Assessment.Extension: Ask students to validate the data and write the data to a file (this is NOT a requirements in the original task).Homework: Ask students to complete the extension to Task 1.2015 Controlled Assessment Task 1 (legacy specification 2013)SAM NEAWeek 2LessonSpec refLesson summaryLesson contentLesson resources13.3.13.3.23.3.3CompressionStarter: card sort activity in Activity 2.1.1 to elicit prior knowledge/recall of data size units.Share what students will be learning i.e. how and why computers compress and encrypt data. Remind students that bitmaps, audio and video files can be very large. Explain that compressing data reduces its file size. Ask students to suggest reasons why reducing file size is desirable (to save on storage space and speed up file transfer).Give students an opportunity in Activity 2.1.2 to discover how compression affects file size. Use the ‘Honey I shrunk the data!’ animation and game to introduce three different strategies for shrinking data – ‘keep them all and make them small’ (lossless), ‘squeeze them more and open the door’ (lossy) and ‘save the best and scrap the rest’ (superchannel): . Discuss with the class the pros and cons of each strategy. Make sure that students understand the key difference between lossless and lossy compression techniques, i.e. that the former retains all the original data while the latter permanently discards some of it.Show the YouTube video ‘Run Length Encoding Visualization’ to introduce the concept of Run Length Encoding (RLE): students the opportunity to experience RLE compression in action by decompressing a 4-bit colour image encoded using RLE (Activity 2.1.3). Read the binary numbers aloud to students or give them the binary codes to read for themselves (see endnote ). Homework: Ask students to complete Activity 2.1.4.Week 2 Lesson 1 activitiesFiles in Autumn term Year 11 Resources ‘Honey I shrunk the data!’ animation and game‘Run Length Encoding Visualisation’ YouTube video2Stage 1: AnalysisNEA Preparation: RequirementsIntroduce the NEA Prep lessons (use lesson summaries).Go thought the differences between the preparation session and the ‘real thing’. Discuss the restrictions there will be when completing the real NEA (page 15 Security, and page 35 in the specification).Explain that there will be less class time when doing the NEA prep so they will be asked to do some work at home. Reinforce that they will not be able to do this in the real NEA.Explain that their work has to be presented in a written report but that there is not much writing! Only what has to be assessed. Note that all that has to be included is in the SAM itself with more details on page 19 of the specification.Go through the questions that the students have noted as homework.Explain the first task – they must create a list of requirements which are what the user wants from the final programmed solution. Refer to specification and SAM. Split the students into small groups and get them to jointly create a draft list.Homework: Ask students to take the draft requirements from their group and finalise with any more they can think of. The work should be presented as a well formatted, detailed list. SAM NEASpecificationNEA Delivery Guide (use for reference throughout the NEA preparation) Week 3LessonSpec refLesson summaryLesson contentLesson resources13.3.23.3.33.3.4Compression: lossless run-length encodingStart the lesson by recapping why files are compressed, i.e. to make them more space-efficient and to enable them to be transferred quickly. If you feel students need more practice encoding or decompressing 4-bit colour images using RLE, you could select one student to read out their data (Lesson 1 homework activity) and ask the rest of the class to decode and draw the image. Alternatively, you could put students into pairs and have them decode each other’s images. Some groups may need to recap the data size units i.e. bits, bytes, MB.Use the 4-bit colour image in homework Activity 2.1.4 to walk students through how to calculate the size (in bytes) of the uncompressed and the compressed files, pointing out the small size reduction. Size of compressed file in bytes = number of codes x number of bits in each code / 8= 84 x 6 / 8 = 63 bytesSize of uncompressed file in bytes = number of squares in grid x 2 / 8 = 256 x 2 / 8 = 64 bytesExplain to students the need to multiply the number of squares in the grid by 2 as each square in the grid is one of four colours, which is represented by a 2-bit number.Now give students the opportunity to do these calculations for themselves on the image they encoded in their Lesson 1 homework activity in Activity 3.1.1.Point out that the advantage of a smaller file is gained at the expense of the computer having to carry out more processing – the file has first to be compressed and then it has to be decompressed before it can be used. This is especially true in this case, where compression only saves 1 byte. Ask students to consider whether the file would compress more or less if colours were represented by 4-bit codes.Introduce students to the RLE calculator: . Give them an opportunity to try it out and get to grips with how it works in Activity 3.1.2.Show students the outline design for an RLE algorithm written in structured English. Ask them to complete the algorithm and check that it works. (Activity 3.1.3)Homework: Challenge students to write a program to implement the RLE algorithm in Activity 3.1.4.Extension: Ask students to write a program to decompress text encoded using RLE in Activity 3.1.5.Week 3 Lesson 1 activitiesAutumn term Year 11 Programming Solutions2Stage 1: AnalysisStage 2:Design2.1 Solution DesignNEA Preparation: decompositionNEA Preparation: designing the algorithm(s)Make the point that requirements for a solution are the users’ point of view but that these requirements are going to be turned into a programmed solution.This requires taking the requirements and decomposing them into sub-problems which can be used in the design and potentially programmed later. There might not be a 1 to 1 match between requirements and sub-problems. They should submit:A short description of what each of the sub-problems will doA short explanation of the reasoning behind the decomposition submitted (reinforcing computational thinking)Homework: Ask student to start depicting the sub-problems they have identified in a flowchart, or pseudo-code, or a written description. They can use all three conventions if they want to. Refer them to the pseudo-code booklet but remind them that when doing the real NEA they will not be able to work on it outside of the classroom.Ask them to note down any problems they have in starting the decomposition.SAM NEASpecificationPseudo-code bookletWeek 4LessonSpec refLesson summaryLesson contentLesson resources13.3.2Compression: lossless methods of compressing dataStart the lesson by recapping what students have learnt so far about RLE compression. Reiterate that RLE works best on files that contain long runs of repeating data. It is not much use for files where this is not the case and, in some instances, can make the file size bigger rather than smaller. (Students should have realised this for themselves after completing Activities 2.1.3 and 2.1.4 in the last lesson.)Use the nursery rhyme ‘The wheels on the bus’ to introduce a different approach to compressing files with repeating patterns of data: the LZ algorithm (Activity 4.1.1).Demonstrate that a considerable size reduction can be achieved by using a lookup table and that the original file can still be reconstructed without any loss of quality (Activities 4.1.2 and 4.1.3).Using the Computer Science Unplugged worksheet ‘Short and Sweet’ (page 31 of ), demonstrate how even better compression can be achieved if, instead of words, repeating patterns of letters are stored in a lookup table.Homework: Ask students to complete Activity 4.1.4.Week 4 Lesson 1 activitiesComputer Science Unplugged ( 2: Design2.1 Solution designNEA Preparation: designing the algorithm(s)Review any major problems that the students might have had when starting the algorithm(s). Go through the bullet points on page 21 so that they are clear what their algorithm(s) should include.Go through the mark scheme and reinforce that they need to keep referring to their requirements. Let them add to them if they need to.During this lesson go round the class and check individual work – and reinforce that the real NEA must be their own work.Homework: Students should complete their algorithms and cross-check with their requirements and decomposition from Analysis.SAMSpecificationPseudo-code bookletWeek 5LessonSpec refLesson summaryLesson contentLesson resources13.3.2Compression: lossy methods of compressing dataStart the lesson by reminding students of the ‘squeeze them more and open the door’ approach to compression introduced in the ‘Honey I shrunk the data!’ game.Show students the bitmap image. Point out that, although large parts of a photograph may look the same, each individual pixel is likely to be slightly different from the pixels on either side of it. This is why a lossless compression algorithm can’t do much with this type of data. Explain that lossy compression algorithms exploit characteristics of human beings: there are some sounds the human ear can’t hear and some subtle differences in colour the human eye can’t detect, and our brains can ‘fill in the gaps’ if they notice something is missing.Use the bitmap image to explain in simple terms how the JPEG compression algorithm works. (The picture is divided into blocks of 8x8 pixels; the data within the 8x8 pixel block is analysed and ranked for its importance to visual perception; key data is retained and less important data is discarded.) This is achieved by replacing the colour values of some pixels. Ask the students to complete Activity 5.1.1 which gives them the opportunity to experiment with JPEG image compression, using an online photo editor.Explain that the MP3 compression algorithm works by removing sounds that cannot be detected by the human ear. Supply students with a WAV file of your choice and give students the opportunity to experiment with different compression algorithms for music (Activity 5.1.2).Homework: Ask students to complete Activity 5.1.3 to create a summary sheet for themselves by answering the questions on lossless and lossy compression.Week 5Lesson 1 activitiesOnline photo editor, e.g. pixlrImage in Autumn term Year 11 Resources2Stage 2: Design2.2 Test strategy and initial test planNEA Preparation: what is a test strategy? Creating the initial test planCheck progress with the solution design.Explain what a test strategy is (their overall plan on how to test). They should write a short paragraph including their method (top-down, bottom-up, both), the data they will be using (normal, boundary and erroneous) and their reasons for following this strategy. High marks for this section should consider their own requirements for testing rather than general terms, and be followed through in the test plan itself (page 23).Explain to the students that they will now create an Initial Test Plan which will test against their requirements. This will then be ‘banked’ but when they start their implementation they will be expected to add to it, e.g. refinements, error corrections etc. as would happen in a real life development.Homework: Complete any unfinished work on the test strategy or Initial Test Plan then critically review it to check that it is complete.SAMSpecificationInitial test plan templateWeek 6LessonSpec refLesson summaryLesson contentLesson resources14.2.4Data storage: magneticRecap how some computers need to store data and instructions permanently in secondary storage and review the units used for data storage.Explain that there are three main ways in which data is stored permanently on devices. Pass round examples (or show images) of the three main types of secondary storage and ask students to identify them:Magnetic storage, e.g. a hard disk drive: storage, e.g. a CD or DVD drive: state, e.g. a solid state drive: students that each storage device has a maximum storage capacity which is measured in bytes.Ask students to continue to research the type of storage devices that are available (Activity 6.1.1)How is data stored magnetically?Show this Royal Institution ‘Ghost in the machine’ video to give students an idea of how data is stored magnetically: (12.00–13.45 minutes). Hard disks contain metal platters coated in iron oxide and data is stored by magnetising the surface of the disk. The platters rotate and the read/write heads float above the surface detecting and modifying the magnetisation of the surface.To reinforce the video, show students a labelled diagram of a hard disk drive: and an image of the surface of a hard disk drive: the extended homework and ask students to suggest and agree assessment criteria for it, for example by think-pair-share then agree best three, or similar. In Activity 6.1.2 they should note this.Homework: (Activity 6.1.3). Students should produce a presentation using an application of their choice (e.g. Powerpoint, Photostory, Prezi, Powtoon) explaining the three types of data storage (magnetic, optical and solid state). Note: this homework will extend over three lessons.Week 6Lesson 1 activitiesExamples (or images of) magnetic, optical and solid state storageRoyal Institution ‘Ghost in the machine’ videoImages of labelled hard disk drive and surface of a hard disk drive2Stage 3: Implementation 2.1.2NEA Preparation: continue programming the solutionCollect in the students Initial Test Plan.This stage is split into 3.1 Implementing the design and 3.2 Building the Solution to accommodate the marking criteria. It is expected that teachers will mark both together and that students will simply program their solution. Reinforce what can be done now but can’t in the live NEA (pages 15 and 16).Students will have four lessons plus homework time to complete their solution. Ask students to create a plan of how they are going to achieve this, perhaps by splitting the implementation of the algorithm over the allocated weeks. However it is important that they realise that this is a preparation and that they may not complete the solution.Refer students to the data file provided.Make sure good programming practice is used, e.g. comments, indentation, sensible variable names.Make students aware that they can use the pseudocode booklet and the class Program Syntax Guide (sample in specification page 50).Students should be reminded to iterate back to the design and requirements during their implementation.Homework: Continue programming the solution.SAMSpecificationPseudo-code bookletProgram Syntax GuideData fileWeek 7LessonSpec refLesson summaryLesson contentLesson resources14.2.4Data storageOptical & solid stateRecap success criteria for extended homework: what information do I need from this lesson to produce excellent homework? Either recap the three main ways in which data is stored permanently on devices or ask students to try Activity 7.1.1.How is data stored optically?In a CD drive, the data is recorded in a spiral platter with individual bits recorded by burning small pits on to the disk surface. The disk is read by shining a laser at the CD surface and examining the reflected light to see if there is a pit or a flat. Show students the reading head movement () and the magnified pits on a CD ().How is data stored in electronic circuits (solid state)?There are no moving components in solid state storage. The data is stored as electric charge in the silicon. Increasingly computers are using solid state storage devices as the main data storage device. As a class, brainstorm why that might be, then show the ‘Explaining Solid State Disks’ video: (0.00 – 2.40 minutes)Continuation of Extended Homework (Activity 6.1.3.Week 7 Lesson 1 activitiesReading head movement and magnified pits on CD‘Explaining Solid State Disks’ YouTube video2Stage 3: Implementation NEA Preparation: continue programming the solution.Debugging tools and techniquesAt this lesson refresh the use of debugging tools in the programming environment, and the use of hand tracing as a debugging technique. Students should show evidence of the use of debugging tools whilst building the solution. This needs to be evidenced by a couple of annotated screen shots showing clearly how they debugged an error. If students decide that they need to add more to their solution they should add these refinements and comment clearly in the code. The refinements should be added to their test plan, and to their design (but they should not rework there design, simple add the refinements at the end. Note: refinements are marked in Stage 4.Homework: Continue programming the solution.SAMSpecificationPseudo-code bookletProgram Syntax GuideData fileWeek 8LessonSpec refLesson summaryLesson contentLesson resources14.2.5Cloud storageStarter: students to list places on the internet where they can store files (expect answers such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, iCloud and so on)Ask students ‘Where is Google?’ Show the map of datacentre locations (). Students could also research/discuss the issues surrounding their siting e.g. energy use, cooling.Explain that Google et. al. give the public access to their (magnetic disk) storage in all those locations via the internet and that this model is called ‘cloud’ storage.Give students the opportunity to assess the pros and cons of using cloud storage in Activity 8.1.1.If your school network has a remote access facility you could demonstrate this. Explain that there are various protocols for accessing files across networks (link back to Activities 5.1.5 – FTP, HTTPS – and 5.2.2 – securing cloud storage)Completion of Extended Homework (Activity 6.1.3). Hand-in or upload to school network share, VLE, cloud storage or similar (VLE ideal for offering comments to give feedback).Week 8 Lesson 1 activities2Stage 3: Implementation NEA Preparation: continue programming the solution.Debugging tools and techniquesContinue programming the solution during the lesson, and as homework.SpecificationPseudo-code bookletProgram Syntax GuideData fileWeek 9LessonSpec refLesson summaryLesson contentLesson resources14.2.44.2.5Presentation of extended homeworkRecap the success criteria for the extended homework project.Students to prepare and use a mark sheet to assess each-others’ presentations.Presentations can be presented to the class or browsed online.Each presentation to receive ‘two stars and a wish’ or similar based on the pre-agreed criteria.Homework (Activity 9.1.1). Ask students to evaluate how they have met the assessment criteria for the extended homework.Week 9Lesson 1 activities2Stage 3: Implementation NEA Preparation: continue programming the solution.Debugging tools and techniquesContinue programming the solution during the lesson, and as homework.SpecificationPseudo-code bookletProgram Syntax GuideData fileWeek 10LessonSpec refLesson summaryLesson contentLesson resources15.3.1The internetWhat is it?Addressing and routingBegin the lesson by posing the question ‘What is the internet?’Explain that the word ‘internet’ is short for ‘interconnection of computer networks’ i.e. a network of networks. Networks across the globe are connected. Image at a noticeboard app or whiteboards to collect students’ broadband providers, such as BT, Virgin Media, Sky etc., and which internet services they use, such as websites, email, cloud storage and applications (e.g. Google Apps, Office 365). Use this to explain that people connect their home or business to the internet by purchasing a contract with an ISP who provides access to internet services. These services are hosted on computers called servers.Ask students:What and where is bbc.co.uk and how does your computer know how to contact it?What happens to an email when you click send?Students should watch ’There and Back Again: A Packet’s Tale – How does the Internet work?’ that IP stands for ‘internet protocol’. Revise the concept of a protocol (5.1.5 studied in Year 10, Spring) – explain that a network protocol is a set of rules agreed between a sender and a receiver on a network. Each packet is ‘stamped’ with the IP address of the sender and recipient.Demonstrate how to find the IP address of a computer by using cmd then ipconfig/all to display your IP address(es) on a Windows PC. Students can also do this subject to your school’s network policies.Extension: the difference between IP4 and IP6. Image of the output is also here . (Activity 10.1.1)Extension: revise layered protocol stacks (5.1.6 studied in Year 10, Spring) to include MAC addresses. Show this video: should then work through (Activity 10.1.2). If there are restrictions on the network this may be set as an extra homework activity.Describe the role of a router as a device that connects sub-networks together using the IP address. Role play Activity 10.1.3. Extension: describe the sub-net mask (links back to Boolean logic 2.5 and hexadecimal notation 3.1.5). Write a program to test whether an IP address is on your local subnet (Activity 10.1.4).Demonstrate how to use a visual trace route tool, such as , to trace the router hops to websites. Choose some English, American and Australian websites. Use proxy trace.Homework (Activity 10.1.5). Ask students to use a visual trace route tool to find out the ‘hops’ to their favourite websites and to take a screen shot of the most interesting or surprising route. Week 10Lesson 1 activitiesAutumn term Year 11 Programming SolutionsVisualisation image of the internet‘There and Back Again: A Packet’s Tale – How does the Internet work?’ Youtube videoVisual trace route tool2Stage 4: Testing, refining and evaluation. NEA Preparation: Testing and refiningTime for the students to stop building the solution, even if they have not finished. Reflect on the time taken and how this will need to be managed in the real NEA. Do they think they made full use of the time given? How will they manage this when they are not allowed to work at home? Go through the marking criteria for the NEA in the specification and reinforce that most of the marks are for activities other than programming.Now ask students to check that they have added all the additional tests to the test plan and save as Final Test Plan. Ask them to add the final two columns from the template in the Sample Assessment Material NEA. Reinforce the use of normal, boundary and erroneous data. Make sure that they realise that the point of a test plan is to find errors and that a good test plan will do that.Check students’ work.Students can then start testing. Screen shots of tests are not required. They should correct any errors then find and retest.SpecificationPseudo-code bookletProgram Syntax GuideData fileWeek 11LessonSpec refLesson summaryLesson contentLesson resources15.3.1The internetPhysical routing and DNSStarter:Either: show the network at and ask students to work out the fastest route for a packet going from Bristol to London (then as extension, the maximum delay between packets sent one unit apart). Recap the notion of IP addressing, packet switching and routers.Or: examine a selection of the screen shots of visual trace route hops students have brought in. Discuss with the class what this tells us about the way data travels across the internet. Packets can take different paths to their destination, not always the most direct; if one route is unavailable, data can be routed a different way.Explain what we mean by ‘connecting backbone’ of the internet, i.e. the high speed data routes that connect the routers and the large networks they support. Show the image from the start of the previous lesson again.Show Andrew Blum’s TED lecture ‘What is the internet really?’: on the video (Activity 11.1.1).Ask students what the IP address is for the BBC’s website to demonstrate that we work better with names than numbers. Explain that this is the role of the DNS: to match up a user-friendly domain name like ‘’ to an IP address.Practical activity: Ask students to visit and to look up the owners and locations of these IP addresses: 212.58.244.66 (BBC), 208.185.127.40 (), 69.63.176.13 (Facebook), 208.65.153.238 (YouTube).Explain that when a user requests a named service a message is sent to DNS to look-up the IP address of that service so that the user can then send a message to the right IP address. Extension: point out that DNS is a kind of abstraction where the details of the addressing are hidden.Plenary/summary: Students should watch ‘How the Internet Works in 5 Minutes’: or practical activity: Students should complete Activity 11.1.2.Week 11 Lesson 1 activitiesVisualisation image of the internetAndrew Blum’s TED lecture ‘What is the internet really?’‘How the Internet Works in 5 Minutes’ YouTube video 2Stage 4: Testing, refining and evaluation. NEA Preparation: Testing, refining and evaluationStudents should complete their testing. If they have finished they can start the evaluation (see Week 12 Lesson 2) Homework: Continue with testing.SpecificationPseudo-code bookletProgram Syntax GuideData fileWeek 12LessonSpec refLesson summaryLesson contentLesson resources15.3.2The World Wide WebBegin the lesson by posing the question ‘What is the World Wide Web?’Explain that the World Wide Web (WWW) refers to the huge collection of documents, written in HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) that can be accessed using the internet. HTML documents are text files stored on a server which are sent to your computer when you access them using web browser software. The web browser displays the web pages and enables you to navigate between them using hyperlinks. It is the ability to hyperlink documents that makes the WWW so useful.Use Mozilla’s webmaker x-ray goggles to view the HTML code that makes up a web page and to make some basic changes: Explain that a website is a collection of related web pages and resouces such as images, sound and video. Websites are hosted on web servers, which are computers connected to the internet.Show the ‘World Wide Web in plain English’ video: should then start Activity 12.1.1.Homework: Finish Activity 12.1.1 .Week 12 Lesson 1 activitiesMozilla’s webmaker x-ray goggles‘World Wide Web in plain English’ YouTube video2Stage 4: Testing, refining and evaluation. NEA Preparation: evaluationExplain that this is the final task and that evaluation means that they have to look at their original requirements and review how successfully their programmed solution meets these requirements. Show the marking criteria on page 28 of the specification. There is no need for them to describe how they completed the work.Homework: Make notes on what they have learnt on when completing the NEA preparation and who they will make use of this when doing the real NEA.SpecificationPseudo-code bookletProgram Syntax GuideData fileWeek 13LessonSpec refLesson summaryLesson contentLesson resources15.3.2The World Wide WebStarter: students can showcase their homework.Explain that a website is addressed using a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), or web page address. A URL uniquely addresses a particular web page. A URL consists of:protocol://domain name/path name of the documentFor example: activity: ask students to identify the protocol, domain name and path name of a number of URLs.Explain that HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) defines how files on the World Wide Web are transmitted and displayed in web browsers and that HTTPS is an encrypted version of HTTP, which allows data to be scrambled as it is transmitted over the internet.Show or ask students to find examples of web pages that use the http and https protocols.If available on your network, demonstrate other protocols such as ftp and telnet; show them a mailto: link in a suitable website.If time, students can continue developing their own site from last lesson and for homework.2NEA Use the timings from the NEA preparation and the experience your students and yourself have gained to build a timetable to guide the students to complete the NEA in the allocated 20 hours. Go through what is and is not allowed during the NEA completion (pages 15 and 16 of the specification).Explain the JCQ guidelines, why they are important and the consequences if they are not followed. NEA Delivery Guidance booklet.NEA for the current series.Week 14LessonSpec refLesson summaryLesson contentLesson resources14.2.66Embedded systemsThe Bigger PictureStarter: ask students to recall the definition of a digital computer, studied in Year 10, and write their answer on a mini-whiteboard; ask them to hold up their boards to assess understanding.If necessary, recap the definition (option to re-use activities from Year 10).In pairs, ask students to list all the computers in the classroom: remind them that computers don’t have to look like computers. Answers should include: (for example) the projector remote, the projector, the DVD player, their smartphones, your chip and pin card and so on. You could borrow a datalogger from science.Students should be able to get a feel for what embedded computers are from this definition: students to extend the task to list embedded computers at home, for example thermostat, microwave and other kitchen appliances, TVs and set-top boxes, cars, streetlights and traffic lights and so on.Ask students to complete Activity 14.1.1 processing of an embedded computer. Review examples with the class.Students should now complete Activity 14.1.2.Homework: (Activity 14.1.3). Students should propose redeveloping an object which will have an embedded system and link to the Internet of Things, and consider the implications of the Bigger Picture.Week 14Lesson 1 activitiesDefinition of embedded systems2NEA Continue with NEAWeek 15LessonSpec refLesson summaryLesson contentLesson resources14.2.66Embedded systemsThe Bigger PictureReview the homework Activity 14.1.3 set last lesson. The students should now complete Activity 15.1.1.Ask for volunteers to propose their object in the ‘Dragon’s Den’, and split the class into groups to work in teams to build a presentation to the dragons. Select dragons for the task and undertake the role play.Homework: (Activity 15.1.2). Create a quiz about embedded systems.Week 15Lesson 1 activities2NEA Continue with NEASuggestions for teaching this contentProvide code as images (print screen) to force the students to type in the program code rather than just use copy and paste. They will learn more by making mistakes and having to correct them.Use two projectors on two screens. This allows you to display code on one screen and information or questions on the other. Use a plain wall or card on wall to make the screens.Divide the class into groups who work together to solve problems. Explain that they must discuss problems within the group before they ask for help. Introduce the concept of coaching other students within their groups to ensure everyone finishes within the set time. Have competitions between groups.Get students to ‘think, pair, share’ with problems (before asking the teacher a question) as well as using this to answer questions. Think about the problem by themselves, discuss the problem in a pair, then share it with a group around them.Starters and plenariesIdeas for starters or plenaries which give students the opportunity to review computational thinking skills, reflect on their learning and build up specialist technical vocabulary.Give students some code and ask them what it does.Give students a flowchart and ask them to produce the code.Give students the pseudo-code and ask them to produce the code.Give students some code and ask them to depict as a flowchart.Give students some pseudo-code and ask them to depict as a flowchart.Give students a written description and ask them to depict as a flowchart.Give students a written description and ask them to produce the code.Give students a list of commands jumbled up and ask them to put them in the right order.Give students some code and ask them to find the syntax errors.Give students some code and ask them to produce a test plan.Give students some input data and ask for appropriate test data (valid, invalid, extreme).Ask students to summarise the lesson in 140 characters.Ask students to identify three ways in which a program could be improved.Who can find out about a topic first using Python help? (Do as a group.)Play videos introducing a particular aspect of Python programming.Ask students to produce five questions and answers on a topic.Online polls for formative assessment of topics.Peer-review of a program – how to give and receive constructive feedback.Self-assessment of a program.Invite students to ‘show and tell’ a program – what are the good features and the bad features? How could it be improved?‘What would happen if I made this change to the program?’‘Role play’ being a program, e.g. students act as manual debuggers and give values of variables at certain break points in a program.Use games, e.g. hangman with technical terms.Give a definition of a technical term and ask students to say what the term is.Suggestions for additional homework questions or extension exercisesAsk students to summarise a topic in 140 characters or less.Ask students to produce a program in code/pseudo-code/flowchart given as a written description (or any combination of this).Ask students to write a written description of a program given as program code.Ask students to make a ‘topic in plain English’ video (for an example see: watch?v=VumBNb6gcBk)Ask students to write a quiz (with answers) on a topic.Ask students to find the definitions of technical terms.Ask students to create a digital or classroom poster to explain a technical term or concept.Challenge students to find the five best websites to help with a particular topic.Ask students to search online to find the answers to some Python programming problem.Ask students to assess a program using an assessment checklist (give all the class the same program).Self-assessment of programmingBy the end of the term, students should be able to assess their programs by asking the following questions. Does the program work? Are there any errors? How successfully does the program meet the requirements?How does this program work? What programming constructs have been used?Is the program readable? Have comments been included to explain the program? Would someone else understand the program?What are the good features and bad features of the program? How could it be improved?Did you learn anything new about programming from writing this program?Did you coach another student to help them solve this problem? If so, what did you learn from helping others?Encourage students to use the correct technical terms when discussing their programs.ResourcesGeneral resourcesBCS Glossary of Computing and ICT, 13th edition (ISBN 9781780171500)A range of articles on teaching coding: guide/teaching-kids-to-code SoftwareAudacity (free open source, cross-platform software for recording and editing sounds) available to download from audacity.Python (free open source software) available to download from getit/Python resourcesOfficial Python documentation (also available through help in IDLE): docs.3/Python summer school from Anglia Ruskin University is an excellent resource with videos and programming challenges: code for kids is a clearly written summary of the Python language written in accessible language: pythondictionary.code-it.co.uk/‘Python in 10 minutes’ is a quick run through of the basic concepts: tutorials/python/‘Quintin Cutts – Too much doing, not enough understanding’ is a 20-minute video containing useful ideas and concepts on how to teach programming: watch?v=Pim4aYfiZiYFree online booksThink Python How to Think Like a Computer Scientist is a free online book with programming challenges at the end of each chapter: thinkpython/thinkpython.pdfA Byte of Python is an excellent online book, though it does not use IDLE as the editor: notes/Python/BooksPython Programming for the Absolute Beginner, M. Dawson (published Course Technology 2010) (ISBN 9781435455009) is an excellent book with clear explanations of each bit of code together with free downloads and example games built into each chapter.Python for Kids: A Playful Introduction to Programming, J. Briggs (published No Starch Press 2013) (ISBN 9781593274078). ................
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