Space Cadet - Course Overview
Students learn coding concepts as they solve these puzzles to help their astronaut through the space journey.
- YEARS 2-3
- BEGINNER
- WEB IPAD
Voiceovers
Description
Designed for elementary readers, this course uses simple code blocks to introduce computational thinking and computer science basics. Students learn by connecting code blocks and apply constructs such as loops and conditional logic to create algorithms that solve problems. Space Cadet can be used online at tynker.com or on an iPad using the Tynker app.
In Space Cadet, students help a crash-landed astronaut collect parts to repair their spaceship. As students complete each lesson, they are introduced to new concepts in a gentle progression. They first understand sequencing through a series of movement puzzles. Then they learn to recognize repeating patterns and apply loops to make their programs more efficient. Students explore events, actions, and conditional statements and apply these concepts to solve coding challenges. By the end of this course, students can solve puzzles with code, write algorithms using loops and conditionals, and debug simple programs.
Space Cadet maps directly to the elementary curriculum in Everyone Can Code program from Apple. Educators can download Apple Education’s free book Getting Started with Code 1 which provides additional guidance on how this course can be taught using an iPad.
Topics
- Flexible sequences
- Loops
- Debugging
- Events
- Conditional statements
- Algorithms
What Students Learn
- Understand sequences and code using sequences
- Learn where loops can make instructions more efficient
- Use debugging methods to solve problems in code
- Code using events and actions
- Use conditional statements to handle different scenarios
- Design algorithms for more complex problems
Technical Requirements
* Online courses require a modern desktop computer, laptop computer, Chromebook, or Netbook with Internet access and a Chrome (29+), Firefox (30+), Safari (7+), or Edge (20+) browser. No downloads required.
* Tablet courses require an iPad (iOS 10+) with Tynker or Tynker Junior app installed and Internet access