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Battleships: Searching Algorithms
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This activity explores the main algorithms that are used as the basis for searching on computers, using different variations on the game of battleships.

Guess My Number
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In this game, learners experience how computers divide a big problem into many smaller ones and how they use binary "yes"/"no" questions.

Twenty Guesses: Information Theory
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This activity introduces the idea that computer scientists measure information by how "surprising" a message is.

The Poor Cartographer: Graph Coloring
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In this activity, learners help a poor cartographer color in the countries on a map, making sure each country is colored a different color than any of its neighbors.

The Muddy City: Minimal Spanning Trees
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In this puzzle, learners investigate the decisions involved in linking a network between houses in a muddy city.

Programming Languages: Harold the Robot
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In this activity related to computer programming, learners give directions to a "robot" (either an adult or another learner) and find out which instructions the robot is able to follow, and how their

Mind-Reading Magic
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In this activity, learners recreate a method of detecting and correcting errors in computers called 'parity'.

Human Interface Design: The Chocolate Factory
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In this activity about human interface design issues, learners help the Oompa-Loompas of a great chocolate factory solve different problems.

Phylogenetics
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This activity lets learners participate in the process of reconstructing a phylogenetic tree and introduces them to several core bioinformatics concepts, particularly in relation to evolution.

Binary Challenge
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In this activity, learners cut out 5 paper cards and label them with 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 dot(s) to explore binary digits.

Programming Languages: Marching Orders
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In this activity about computer programming, learners follow instructions in a variety of ways in order to successfully draw figures.

Divide and Conquer: Santa's Dirty Socks
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This activity introduces the idea of "divide and conquer" using a fictitious but serious problem--a pair of dirty socks has accidentally been wrapped in one of the presents that Santa is about to deli

Artificial Intelligence: The Intelligent Piece of Paper
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This activity explores what it means for a computer to be intelligent and introduces the topic of what a computer program is and how everything computers do simply involves following instructions writ

Squeezing Pictures Into Codes
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In this activity, learners will explore how computers represent pictures using pixels.

Cryptographic Protocols: The Peruvian Coin Flip
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This activity about cryptographic techniques illustrates how to accomplish a simple, but nevertheless seemingly impossible task—making a fair, random choice by flipping a coin between two people who d

Unlocking the Secret in Product Codes
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In this activity, learners will explore how product barcodes are scanned accurately and be able to "guess" the last number in a 13 digit barcode correctly every time.

Kidbots
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In this activity, one person acts as a human robot while another acts as their developer by programming their actions.

Guess the Sentence
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In this activity, learners play a game similar to Hangman by guessing a secret phrase to understand how computer scientists measure the amount of "information" in a document.

Sound Representation: Modems Unplugged
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In this activity, learners listen to songs and decode hidden messages based on the same principle as a modem. As a final challenge, learners decode the binary messages in a music video.

Treasure Hunt: Finite-State Automata
In this computer science activity about finite-state automaton (on page 45 of the PDF), learners use a map and choose various pathways to find Treasure Island.