February 2018 Learn More Links
By Tim Slavin / Learn More Links / February 2018 Issue
Tom Woodward
Breaking the Silo
Tips for teaching STEM
https://beneylu.com/pssst/en/stem-classroom/
https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/06/17/ctq_jolly_stem.html
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/stem-engagement-maker-movement-annmarie-thomas
How to teach computational thinking
https://www.wired.com/2016/09/how-to-teach-computational-thinking/
https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2016/11/teaching-computational-thinking-first-step-bridging-stem-skills-gap
https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=894&category=In-the-classroom&article=
https://code.org/curriculum/course3/1/Teacher
Listening to Data
Alexander's broadcasts and his music
https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/more-than-meets-the-eye-nasa-scientists-listen-to-data/
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wnnyym/spaced-out-making-music-with-the-sun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b9ykhYzw6k
Motherboard article: "'The Space Composer' is Making Music with the Sun"
NASA article: "NASA Scientists Listen to Data"
TEDx: "How we turn stars into music"
https://tedxinnovations.ted.com/2016/03/07/spotlight-tedx-talk-how-we-turn-stars-into-music/
University of Michigan: Scientists Listen to the Sun
http://ns.umich.edu/new/releases/7541-scientists-listen-to-the-sun-in-new-sonification-project
Morse Code Translator
https://morsecode.scphillips.com/translator.html
http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/telegraph
US Navy Training Video for Morse Code
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQyP7VJqvqE
Introducing Sphero
Sphero activities
https://edu.sphero.com/cwists/category
New Yorker article: "A Whole New Ball Game"
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/16/sphero-teaches-kids-to-code
Wired article: "How BB-8 – a Rolling Robot in a Galaxy Far, Far Away – Changed Everything for Sphero
https://www.wired.com/2015/12/how-bb-8a-rolling-robot-in-a-galaxy-far-far-awaychanged-everything-for-sphero/
How inductive charging works
http://www.explainthatstuff.com/inductionchargers.html
Finding Summer Camps
101 questions to ask when choosing a summer camp
https://www.idtech.com/blog/100-questions-to-ask-when-choosing-a-summer-camp/
Technology summer camps
https://www.kidscodecs.com/resources/technology-summer-camps-kids/
http://www.internaldrive.com/
https://www.kidscodecs.com/interview-with-peter-ingram-cauchi-and-alexa/
Tech Kids Unlimited
http://www.techkidsunlimited.org/
https://www.kidscodecs.com/an-interview-with-beth-rosenberg/
Digital Media Academy
http://www.digitalmediaacademy.org/
Emagination Computer Camps
http://www.computercamps.com/
Black Girls Code
Summer of Code 2013 was in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, Memphis, New York, District of Columbia, Chicago, and Oakland, California.
http://www.blackgirlscode.com
Coder Dojo
An international coding club to connect programming professionals with kids 7-17 and their parents (if parents want to get involved).
http://www.coderdojo.com
Kids can Code
Based in Southern California with a focus on Python, Scratch, and Raspberry Pi.
http://kidscancode.org/
The Blue Brain Project
The Blue Brain Project main page
http://bluebrain.epfl.ch/
Henry Markram x TED: A brain in a supercomputer
https://www.ted.com/talks/henry_markram_supercomputing_the_brain_s_secrets
Detailed Project Overview by Artificial Brains
http://www.artificialbrains.com/blue-brain-project
Info on How the Brain Works
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nH4MRvO-10
http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetailsKids.aspx?p=335&np=152&id=1528
Why the Human Brain Project Went Wrong
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-the-human-brain-project-went-wrong-and-how-to-fix-it/
SketchUp Help Center: Adding Colors and Textures with Materials
https://help.sketchup.com/en/article/3000113
SketchUp: Images, Textures, Fixed and Free Pins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqCdnfyjv5Q
SketchUp Tutorial: Aligning Textures Using the Fixed Pins
https://forums.sketchup.com/t/aligning-textures-using-the-fixed-pins/41166
SketchUp Textures
http://www.sketchuptexture.com/
PyWeek Game Jam Report
BeepBox
www.beepbox.co
www.pygame.org
An online book that teaches programming with PyGame
http://programarcadegames.com/index.php
The main PyWeek site
http://pyweek.org
Modelling Tic-Tac-Toe with Python
Lists and Arrays
http://study.com/academy/lesson/arrays-lesson-for-kids.html
https://www.kidscodecs.com/programming-functions/
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/computer_programming/computer_programming_functions.htm
http://www.discoveryplayground.com/computer-programming-for-kids/kids-programming-03/
Unix Time
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_time
Epoch Converter
https://www.epochconverter.com/
Why Does Unix Time Start at 1970/01/01?
https://www.quora.com/Why-does-Unix-time-start-at-1970-01-01
French Republican Calendar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_Calendar
Hack Your Own Operation Game
History of Operation Game
https://www.classicgamesandpuzzles.com/Operation.html
MicroPython Speech Module
http://microbit-micropython.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutorials/speech.html
More about while loops
https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming/programming/looping/p/intro-to-while-loops
https://www.kidscodecs.com/loops-a-fairy-tale/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSWCgZBSx_U
Take Minecraft Game Online
TopG Server List
http://topg.org/Minecraft
Planet Minecraft Skins Directory
https://www.planetminecraft.com/resources/skins/
Official Guide for Multiplayer
https://help.mojang.com/customer/en/portal/articles/429052-how-do-i-play-multiplayer-
Realms website
https://minecraft.net/en-us/realms/
3D Printed Jewellery
3D printing resources
https://www.tinkercad.com/
https://kirakira.com/
https://www.shapeways.com/
Telegraph article: "Is 3D printing the future of fine jewellery?"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/jewellery/is-3d-printing-the-future-of-fine-jewellery/
More articles about 3D printing
https://hbr.org/2013/03/3-d-printing-will-change-the-world
https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21724368-recent-advances-make-3d-printing-powerful-competitor-conventional-mass-production-3d
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/18/world-first-3d-printed-bridge-cyclists-netherlands
From Scratch to JavaScript: WoofJS
WoofJS Teacher Guide
https://docs.google.com/document/d/13OEk0KQbP1YZTblwRdBcVRCdcGCj2kHjxjzuD2g-fGk/edit#
WoofJS Game Design Tutorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va9qYKSSqAQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL_jY8UzGv8
https://www.kidscodecs.com/javascript/
https://www.codecademy.com/learn/introduction-to-javascript
https://www.w3schools.com/js/js_intro.asp
A profile from when Julia was first going public
https://www.wired.com/2014/02/julia/
A bare bones tutorial on Julia
https://learnxinyminutes.com/docs/julia/
A library for doing symbolic mathematics like algebra in Julia
http://mth229.github.io/symbolic.html
An article comparing the performance of a fast Python implementation with the base Julia implementation
http://tullo.ch/articles/python-vs-julia/
A "deep learning" library for Julia
https://devblogs.nvidia.com/parallelforall/mocha-jl-deep-learning-julia/
The main Julia site
https://julialang.org/
Also In The February 2018 Issue
In an era before telephones, a clever code was created to send messages by telegraph.
Modelling Tic-Tac-Toe in Python
A simple coding activity that creates a virtual tic-tac-toe board with pieces.
Seven days to design, code, and debug a program with PyGame. What could go wrong?
Play with your friends or connect to Minecraft servers all around the world.
Turning scientific data into music can lead to new insights and new solutions.
Making & Sewing
3D Printed Jewelry
Tools to help you design and print your own jewelry. Who says geeks can't be fashionable?
Say hello to your new favorite robot: spherical, programmable, and durable. It can even swim!
Introduction to a dynamic, Python-like language that can do scientific calculations at high speed.
The perfect language to help you transition into a new way of coding.
Create a new and improved variation of the classic 1960s board game with micro:bit.
Learn about the origin of Unix time, the calendar system used by digital devices.
Parent Teacher Corner
Help students apply their computational thinking skills outside the classroom.
Could a human brain be simulated by a computer? Would it think and feel like we do?
The computer is the most remarkable tool that we've ever come up with. It's the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds.
— Steve Jobs
Links from the bottom of all the February 2018 articles, collected in one place for you to print, share, or bookmark.
Interesting stories about computer science, software programming, and technology for February 2018.