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Soda Constructor: Exploring the laws of Physics with Computational Thinking

Discover the laws of Physics through Computational Thinking with the Soda Constructor program. Learn about Newton’s laws, gravity, friction, and Hooke’s Law in a fun and engaging way. Build models, explore effects, and dive into algorithmic thinking to deepen your understanding. Enhance your teaching of computing and physics with practical activities and downloadable resources from Teaching London Computing. Unveil the power of computational models in understanding theoretical concepts and simulating real-world phenomena. Visit our website for interactive sessions, activity sheets, and more to support your learning journey!

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Soda Constructor: Exploring the laws of Physics with Computational Thinking

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  1. 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 www.teachinglondoncomputing.org Twitter: @TeachingLDNComp @cs4fn

  2. 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: www.teachinglondoncomputing.org

  3. Algorithmic Thinkingand 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

  4. Soda Constructorsodaplay.com • 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) • Draw pictures that come to life • Dots are masses • Lines are springs • Turn springs into muscles • give energy boosts • Explore the effects of the laws

  5. 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

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

  7. 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

  8. 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) www.teachinglondoncomputing.org Twitter: @TeachingLDNComp

  9. Together we areTeaching London Computing Thank you! www.teachinglondoncomputing.org Twitter: @TeachingLDNComp

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