010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100

110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
abstractly, thinking ahead, thinking procedurally, thinking logically & thinking concurrently
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

How to use this resource

Presenting these exercises as a PowerPoint presentation allows you to use the resource in a
variety of ways:
Projecting the exercise from the front of the class as a starter/plenary activity.
Printing out 3/6 slides per page to use as revision cards or a paired activity.
Carousel activity with different groups looking at different scenarios, moving between groups,
adding more ideas.
Show the students the scenario. Using the computational thinking placemat as a handy
reference.
Students complete the activity on the card.
The second slide in each scenario shows a typical answer. This is not exhaustive, and students
may be able to elaborate further, beyond the points raised. The teacher can also pose follow up
questions, with reference to the placemat to aid revision, e.g. what are the advantages of this

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
abstractly
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

Lunar outpost
Scientists at NASA are considering using the moon as a base for manned exploration of the solar
system. There are many advantages to launching spacecraft from the moon rather than Earth.
In order to decide a suitable place for the lunar outpost, scientists think abstractly and use
visualisation.
Explore http://www.google.co.uk/moon/
Using suitable screen shots of Apollo, Elevation, and Charts illustrate how scientists can
think abstractly to determine a suitable location for a lunar outpost.

Thinking

Thinking Ahead

Thinking

Thinking Logically

Thinking

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
abstractly
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

Lunar outpost
Possible answers to the challenge:

Icon of astronaut shows previous moon landing sites.

Number label shows previous moon landing sites.
Elevation shows height of terrain using colour.
Labels with codes show the type of terrain, e.g. Ci = intrusive rock.
Features and areas of the lunar surface are named.

Thinking

Thinking Ahead

Thinking

Thinking Logically

Thinking

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
logically
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

Air France flight 447

On 1st June 2009, Air France flight 447 left Rio de Janeiro heading to Paris. It was a routine
international flight. In the early hours of the morning, over the Atlantic Ocean, contact was lost,
and the aeroplane vanished.
On investigation, the plane showed signs of a high-speed impact with water as the nose cone was
flattened. This ruled out a bomb or structural break-up. It was determined that the plane
crashed into the water due to pilot error.
The plane flew through a thunderstorm. Other aeroplanes had diverted that night, as is standard
practice in bad weather. The pitot tubes (speed sensors) had frozen over as a result. This
caused the autopilot to switch off and incorrect readings to be sent to the cockpit. This is
expected behaviour, and pilots are trained to recognise this. Believing that the plane was losing
altitude, the pilot pulled back on the stick to raise the nose, in an attempt to gain height. The
instruments continued to show the plane falling. If an aircrafts nose is pointed up too far, it
loses speed, causing the engines to stall. The correct action is to point the nose down, gaining
speed, beforeThinking
levelling off.
Thinking
Thinking
Thinking Ahead

Thinking Logically

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
logically
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

Air France flight 447

Losing
altitude
?

No

Flowchart can be
extended to include
levelling off after
pointing the nose
up/down, so it does not
crash!

Yes

Point nose up

Is there a
thundersto
rm ahead?

Yes

No

Divert plane to
new heading to
avoid storm

Continue current
course

Is the
plane
stalling?

No

Yes

Point nose down

Thinking

Thinking Ahead

Thinking

Thinking Logically

Thinking

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
procedurally and concurrently
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

Cup of coffee
Consider how a typical instant cup of coffee with milk and sugar is made.
Think procedurally to break this process down into a number of smaller sub-problems.
Think concurrently to identify which processes can be done simultaneously.
Outline the reasons why some of the processes can and should be done concurrently, and those
that cant.

Thinking

Thinking Ahead

Thinking

Thinking Logically

Thinking

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
procedurally and concurrently
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

Cup of
coffee

Cup of coffee

Prepare
water

Prepare
cup

Add
water to
kettle
Boil
water

Thinking

Add
water to
cup

Add
coffee to
cup
Add
sugar to
cup

Students could also supply in the form of a

flow diagram showing choices and decisions
such as Add Milk? or Add Sugar?
Try to tease out the idea of thinking
concurrently.
In this example it is clear that the cup of
coffee with sugar and milk can be prepared
while waiting for the water to boil.

Add milk
to cup

Thinking Ahead

Thinking

Thinking Logically

Thinking

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
abstractly, thinking ahead and thinking logically
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

Taxi driver
A taxi driver uses his experience, a GPS navigation system and radio tuned to traffic information
to work out how to get passengers from A to B.
In what ways is the taxi driver able to:
Think abstractly
Think ahead
Think logically

Thinking

Thinking Ahead

Thinking

Thinking Logically

Thinking

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
abstractly, thinking ahead and thinking logically
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

Taxi driver
Possible answers to the challenge:
Thinking abstractly: using road names, road labels, traffic indicators, speed indicator,
estimated arrival time on his GPS system to filter appropriate information. Awareness of black
spots from accident data.
Thinking ahead: making sure there is enough fuel, planning a route to avoid closed roads.
Thinking logically: making decisions when arriving at a junction/crossroads to take a correct
turning, making decisions based on traffic ahead.

Thinking

Thinking Ahead

Thinking

Thinking Logically

Thinking

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
ahead
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

New Horizons
In July 2015, New Horizons, a space probe completed a fly-by of the dwarf planet, Pluto. In order
for the mission to be a success, the team at NASA had to think ahead considerably in preparation
for the mission before it launched in 2006.
Research this mission, and compile a list of ways in which NASA had to think ahead.

Thinking

Thinking Ahead

Thinking

Thinking Logically

Thinking

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
ahead
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

New Horizons
Possible answers to the challenge:
Calculating how long it would take to reach Pluto
Calculating where Pluto would be in its orbit for successful arrival.
Calculating the necessary speed, and gravitational assists required to reach the destination at
the correct time.
Planning for trajectory corrections, and having sufficient fuel.
Planning what scientific instruments would be needed/could be carried/could be built in the
timescales.
Planning how to communicate with a probe with a 4 hour time delay, when it can only do
either scientific observation or communication at one time due to orientation.
Planning for potential unknowns, e.g. trajectory to collide with unknown moon/ice debris.
Whether this is a flyby or orbit mission. Flyby reduces the time available for scientific data to
be gathered, but requires less fuel and therefore, less weight.
Possible further missions to Kuiper Belt objects.
Thinking

Thinking Ahead

Thinking

Thinking Logically

Thinking

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
ahead, procedurally and concurrently
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

Building a house
Constructing a house is a complicated process. Lots of components have to be considered, and
certain tasks cant be tackled unless others have been started or finished.
Yet thousands of new homes are constructed every year.
Consider the process of building a new house and break down the process into a number of
smaller problems and sub-problems.
When working out how to break down the problem it will help to think carefully about the order of
events which will take place during a houses construction.
Also consider which things could be done concurrently (e.g. at the same time) in order to make
the process of constructing the house as quick as possible.

Thinking

Thinking Ahead

Thinking

Thinking Logically

Thinking

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
ahead, procedurally and concurrently
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

Building a house

Build a house

Creating
foundations

Dig out
ground

Construct
exterior

Build walls

Place footings

Construct
internal

Build roof

Windows &
Doors

Lay floor

Roof beams

Internal walls

Tile roof

Ceilings

Build
foundation
walls

Guttering

Thinking

Thinking Ahead

Thinking

Thinking Logically

Thinking

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
ahead, procedurally and concurrently
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

Jake & Jill's weekly food shop

Jake and Jill are quite fed up of how long they spend in the supermarket each week doing their
weekly food shop.
They decide what they want when they are actually walking around the supermarket and they
often have to go back multiple times in the week as they run out of items.
This method of shopping is also resulting in a very expensive total weekly shopping bill!
How could they use the principles of computational thinking to make their weekly shopping
experience as efficient as possible. There overall aims are to:
Spend as little time as possible in the supermarket each week
Save as much money as possible

Thinking

Thinking Ahead

Thinking

Thinking Logically

Thinking

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
ahead, procedurally and concurrently
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

Jake & Jill's weekly food shop

Thinking Ahead:
Plan out their meals for the week ahead of time
Make a shopping list of all the items they need for their meals
Thinking Procedurally:
Writing out the shopping list in the order of the supermarket isles
Thinking Concurrently:
Speeding up the shop by taking half the shopping list each
Splitting up and using two checkouts
One person parking the car while the other starts the shop

Thinking

Thinking Ahead

Thinking

Thinking Logically

Thinking

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
logically
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

Cash point problem

Thinking logically outline an algorithm which covers the situation of a user withdrawing cash from
a cash point:
Present your answer in either the form of:
a flow-chart
or pseudo code

Thinking

Thinking Ahead

Thinking

Thinking Logically

Thinking

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
logically
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

Cash point problem

Start
Input card number

BEGIN
INPUT CardNumber
REPEAT
INPUT PIN
IF PIN is wrong for this CardNumber THEN
OUTPUT Wrong PIN
END IF
UNTIL PIN is correct
INPUT Amount
IF there are enough funds THEN
Dispense Cash
Update customers balance
ELSE
OUTPUT Sorry, insufficient funds
END IF
END

Input PIN
OUTPUT
Wrong PIN
Is it the correct
PIN For this
Card?

No

Yes
Input amount to
withdraw

Enough
Funds?

No

Yes
Dispense cash

OUTPUT
Sorry

Flowchart can be
extended to include a
PIN number only being
allowed to be entered
incorrectly up to three
times before the card is
retained.
This could be done with
a counter and a further
check on the counter.

Update balance
Stop

Thinking

Thinking Ahead

Thinking

Thinking Logically

Thinking

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
abstractly
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

Maps and Abstraction

Consider the tourist map on the right of city of Manchester.
How has abstraction been used in the production of this
map?

Thinking

Thinking Ahead

Thinking

Thinking Logically

Thinking

010010100110010101100001011011100110111001100101011101000111010001100101001000000101011101101001011011100
110011100100000011100000111001001101111011011010110111101110100011001010110010000100000011000110110111101
101101011100000111010101110100011000010111010001101001011011110110111001100001011011000010000001110100011
Thinking
abstractly
010000110100101101110011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100110011011110111001000100000011100000111
001001101111011000100110110001100101011011010010000001110011011011110110110001110110011010010110111001100
111

Computational thinking

Maps and Abstraction

Areas of the city have been colour coded

Road name labels have been added
Picture icons of various attractions have been added
Key locations have been labelled with a circled number
A key has been added with icons for key building such as
car parks and post offices
Major ring roads and the river have been coloured
differently to clearly stand out

Thinking

Thinking Ahead

Thinking

Thinking Logically

Thinking