Your students don’t need coding experience to take part in Computer Science Education Week. You can start with simple questions about computer parts or an activity that asks them to put instructions in the right order.
These 14 activities in Formative give you several ways to introduce the subject. Choose the activity that fits your grade level, from following simple steps to learning how to debug code.
The computers and technology we use today are just updated versions of years of work by people with different skills and ideas. Use computing history as a starting point to introduce the people behind these developments and explore how technology has influenced history and career opportunities.
Computers developed over time, changing as new ideas and inventions built on earlier discoveries. The “How Computers Came to Be” quiz introduces students to some of the people and milestones that shaped computer science.
Try using a question students found tricky to start a class discussion. What changed, and why did that development matter?
Students might recognize current computer science figures like Bill Gates. But what about names like Ada Lovelace, Fei-Fei Li, or Katherine Johnson? The computing pioneers practice set introduces these figures and what they’re known for.
After students complete a few rounds of practice, ask them to choose one person whose work surprised them and explain why to a partner.
New technologies have changed how people communicate, work, and travel. Try a starter lesson, perfect for middle school, that asks students to describe that influence instead of just naming inventions.
If students focus on listing devices, ask them to choose one invention and explain what people did before it existed and what changed after it became available.
What could a career in science look like for your students? This high school starter lesson introduces different career options (including ones in computer science!) so students can consider which ones might be a good fit.
After the lesson, have students choose a career that interests them and explain how they’d use science in that job. This brings the lesson's essential question into a more personal discussion.
Students might know exactly where to click in an app but still not understand how their devices actually work. These activities help fill those gaps, from identifying computer parts to understanding what programming languages and formulas tell a computer to do.
Students may recognize a keyboard or a monitor, but can they explain what each one actually does? And how much do they know about the parts inside their devices that they can’t see? This activity uses pictures to introduce computer parts and their functions, making it a great choice for early elementary students.
As they work through the activity, ask students to explain the difference between parts that are inputs and outputs. For example, a keyboard sends information into a computer, while a monitor shows, or outputs, information from it.
Programming languages let people write instructions that computers can follow. Different languages are used for different kinds of projects, but that doesn’t mean each language only has one purpose.
This activity asks students to identify common uses for different programming languages. As you review their answers, remind students that a language’s most common use isn’t always its only use.
HTML tags tell web browsers how to structure and display content on a page. This HTML basics practice set introduces common tags like <br> (line break), <hr> (horizontal rule), and <strong> (bold emphasis), with cards that explain what each one does.
Before students check each explanation, ask them to predict what the tag would change on a webpage. Can they picture the result just by looking at the code?
Spreadsheets can calculate multiplication problems, but students need to know how to write formulas correctly to make them work. This formula practice activity introduces cell references and how to write a formula the computer understands to give you the right output.
Students choose or write the correct formulas, then check their answers against a multiplication table. If they get an incorrect answer, encourage them to check the cell references and formula before assuming there’s a multiplication mistake.
Students might know what they want a program to do but don't have the logic or knowledge to explain the steps needed to make it happen. These activities focus on following instructions in the right order, making decisions based on conditions, and recognizing mistakes that could prevent a program from working.
Computers follow instructions in a specific order, so even a small change in sequence can affect the result. This sequence and patterns activity is great for helping early elementary students practice ordering instructions and identifying how patterns repeat.
Have students read their completed sequences out loud as if they were giving directions to a robot. Can someone follow those directions exactly, or are students assuming the robot knows something they haven’t included?
Conditional statements tell a computer what to do when certain conditions are met. For example, a program might follow one set of instructions if an answer is correct and a different set if it’s incorrect.
This activity gives students practice deciding whether conditions are true and determining which instructions to follow. They can work independently or in small groups to complete the assignment. For more practice, have them explain why they chose a particular response.
Pseudocode lets students practice programming logic without having to learn a specific coding language first. But they still need to use the same thinking and processes to organize the instructions. This activity asks students to identify and correct mistakes in pseudocode using IF, THEN, and ELSE statements.
When reviewing answers, ask students to explain why something was an error and how their correction makes the instructions clearer. Finding a mistake is one thing, but understanding why it matters is another.
A program can look right to the human eye, but when you run it, it still doesn’t work. That usually means there’s a bug in the system. Finding out why takes more than spotting a typo. These computer science projects ask students to investigate problems, consider possible solutions, and back up their conclusions with evidence.
Finding a bug is only part of debugging. Students also need to figure out what’s causing the problem and whether their proposed fix will actually work. In this debugging lab activity for high schoolers, students can trace code, identify logic errors, select test cases, and evaluate possible fixes.
As students work through the challenge, ask them to use evidence from the code and test results to explain their decisions. They should be able to tell you not just what they’d change, but why.
A spaceship with malfunctioning systems gives students a different kind of computer science challenge. Instead of just fixing a line of code, they have to sort through evidence, consider what might be causing the problems, and explain their reasoning.
In this activity, students take on the role of a starship’s bridge and engineering crew. The mission briefing sets up the scenario and gives them the context they need to investigate. It takes debugging to a new level with real-world (or should we say fictional-world?) consequences.
AI could change how programmers write, test, and fix code, but there’s still plenty to investigate about how it’ll affect their work. This research project asks students to research that question and develop an evidence-based argument.
The activity includes checkpoints to help them plan and write their final paper, with room to adjust the research process based on their experience. Before assigning the project, make sure students know your requirements for paper length, citations, and whether they’re allowed to use AI tools during their research and writing.
Computer Science Education Week is a good opportunity to introduce new concepts, but you don’t have to stop there. The Formative Library has ready-made activities you can use throughout the year, whether you’re reviewing computer basics or introducing more advanced coding challenges.
You can filter the library by subject and grade level to find activities that fit your class. If you don’t see what you need, you can create your own lessons and practice sets. Just add audio or video, import content from Google, or use Luna AI to help build on existing materials.
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