Colorado Computer Science: 4th Grade

This course is aligned to the Colorado 4th grade Computer Science standards and is designed to provide computer science and digital literacy instruction for Colorado 4th grade students. It is meant to be taught approximately weekly.

View Syllabus

Overview & Highlights

Elementary School

4th

Overview of Lessons

To view the entire syllabus, click here or click to explore the full course.

Optional Review

Welcome to CodeHop!

Students will learn how to log in and use the CodeHop Playground. This short introductory lesson can be used on its own, or right before a full lesson.

Introduction to Computer Science and Scratch

Students will be able to define important computer science vocabulary and create a simple program in Scratch.

Drawing Tools: Sea Creatures

Students will be able to use all of the Scratch image editing tools to create and program deep sea creatures.

The Coordinate Plane

Students will be able to create an opened-ended animation using the coordinate plane in Scratch.

Getting Started

Computational Thinking: Design a School

Students will be able to use computational thinking to design a school.

Exploring Computing Systems

Students will be able to identify parts of the computing system and identify simple hardware and software problems.

Getting Started: Programming

Creating Algorithms

Students will be able to program multiple algorithms and assess which one best meets their needs.

Loops: Catch the Ball

Students will be able to use two types of loops to create a simple game in Scratch.

Debugging: Mazes

Students will be able to decompose a program to debug and make the program run as intended.

Digital Literacy

Managing Digital Footprints

This lesson is coming soon!

Impacts of Computing: Exploration

Students will be able to explain how technology and culture influence each other and create a Scratch project that shows a past and present version of a technology, identifies a trend, and explains one positive and one negative impact of technology and screen time.

Online Risks & Protection

This lesson coming soon! Students will demonstrate how to stay safe online by practicing secure habits and understanding the tools and technologies that protect their information.

Data Investigators

Students will be able to evaluate data for reliability and then analyze the data to draw conclusions and make predictions.

Inquiry Project: Data Bar Graph

Students will be able to follow the inquiry process and modify a program to display the results of their investigation.

File Management and Data in Action

Students will be able to explain that different types of digital data take up different amounts of space and can be stored in different ways.

Networks, Packets, and the Internet

Students will be able to explain how information travels through the Internet. They will model how messages are sent as packets and reassembled. They will create and use a secure classroom communication method.

Design Thinking: AI Chatbots

Students will describe how AI representations support reasoning and answer questions by training a model AI chatbot program.

Programming Exploration

Broadcast Messages: Tell a Joke

Students will be able to use broadcast messages to program two sprites to tell a knock knock joke.

Choose Your Own Path: Elements of Culture

Students will be able to identify elements of culture as they create a cultural choose-your-own-path game.

Game Effects

Students will be able to modify a game to add engaging effects and make updates to their game based on peer feedback.

Scout's Quest: Conditionals

Students will be able to create a program using if/then conditionals. Part 4 of 4 in Scout's Quest skill review series.

Scout's Quest: Variables

Students will be able to create and use variables to track points in a program. Part 2 of 4 in Scout's Quest skill review series.

Introduction to Clones

Students will be able to create an animation using clones and investigate the limitations of their program.

Scout's Quest: Functions with Boolean Inputs

Students will be able to create a function including a boolean input to perform different actions based on whether a password is correct. Part 1 of 4 in Scout's Quest skill review series.

Designing Solutions for Accessibility

Students will be able to use the design thinking process to identify and solve real-world problems by redesigning a game to improve accessibility and usability for diverse users.

Interdisciplinary Exploration

Cause and Effect

Students will be able to create a Scratch program that demonstrates a cause-and-effect relationship by using broadcast messages, conditionals, or event blocks to trigger actions between sprites.

State Project

Students will use events to create an interactive project detailing state-specific facts.

How We See: Light Reflection

Students will be able to use conditionals to demonstrate how light reflects from objects and enters the eye to allow objects to be seen.

Creative Storytelling

Students will be able to plan and animate a story using events and sequences.

Exploring Point of View

Students will be able to compare different points of view and modify a program to tell a story from two different perspectives.

Unit Converter

Students will be able to use variables and conditionals to program a unit conversion calculator to convert between measurements.

House Design with Area and Perimeter

Students will be able to calculate and use the area and perimeter of a room to create a house design using functions. This version of the lesson is focused on Computer Science concepts.

Classifying Quadrilaterals in a Hierarchy

Students will be able to create a program using events to classify quadrilaterals in a hierarchy, and use comments to document their code.

28
Exercises

47
Offline Handouts

Lesson Previews

Data Investigators