Computer Science Education Week
December 6-11, 2021
Virtual Coding Marathon
For Grades 3-12
The 2021 CS Education Week Coding Marathon is an experience that encourages students to think differently about Computer Science, computational thinking, and how those skills can be used to solve community problems. Students will explore CS activities, unplugged and/or plugged, that encourage computational thinking and problem solving using the core CS practices: abstraction, debugging, algorithms, decomposition, and pattern recognition. More resources below.
Registration has closed for the 2021 Coding Marathon.
Thank you to all who signed up.
Family Coding Night
For Grades K-12
Host a family coding night the week of December 6–11 and we will provide activity plans, promotional images and messages to use, and arrange a live video call with a CS professional or a US Space Force Guardian (subject to availability). The video call will be 10-15 minutes to hear about how CS is used in his/her job and allow a Q&A period. These resources are free to schools.
Email ashe@battelle.org if your school is interested in hosting an event.
Gaming Competition
For Grades 9-12
Teachers, do you have some gamers who want to compete in a free, online gaming competition against some of the brightest minds? The Air Force and Space Force are holding a competition where your students can test their skills against the professionals. There will be “free play” until November 27. Then we will hold “bracket games” from November 29–December 3. The top 3 players will compete against professional Air Force and Space Force gaming specialists the week of December 6–11. Details are for the final round of play and Q&A time is still forthcoming. The game is online format chosen by the Air Force.
If interested, email ashe@battelle.org by November 20 to register your school or ask questions.
2021 Coding Marathon
2021 CS Ed Week Virtual Coding Marathon Challenge
New to CS and computational thinking?
Don't worry - we have a great list of resources and introductory webinars planned to help you get started! This is a great opportunity to learn more.
Coding Marathon Details
When: November 22 - December 11, 2021
Who: Students in grades 3 - 12 in Tennessee (any content area)
Where: In the classroom or at home
Why: Students that log 26.2 hours of coding experiences (plugged or unplugged) receive a coding marathon medal recognizing their efforts
How will students log their time?
Students will receive a welcome email with their unique participant number and a survey link to log their coding time. Students can complete unplugged or online activities of their choosing or assigned by a teacher. They should keep track of the time spent to the nearest .25 hour increment (every 15 minutes rounds up to the next 0.25 hour) and record total time spent in coding activities each day. They don't have to record every day, they can count hours for a few days and record all at once. Time spent in class doing coding assignments can count.
When does the Marathon end on December 11, 2021?
The log will cut off at 11:59 PM EST on December 11. All hours recorded at that time will be totaled by each unique marathon number to calculate total time spent. All participants will receive an email message that shows their total accumulated hours with a short survey asking what kind of activities they did and what they learned.
What do students receive?
All students who register and complete at least 1 hour of activity will receive a certificate of participation. All students who complete at least 26.2 hours total over the duration of the event will receive a certificate and a Coding Medal. These will be delivered to teachers at the student’s school for distribution as soon as possible following the completion of the event.
Coding marathon registrants will receive step-by-step instructions, resources, and more to help roll out the coding marathon at your school. Students and educators are encouraged to share their work on social media using
#TNCodes2021.
Registration for the 2021 Virtual Coding Marathon has ended.
Resources:
Defined Learning Computer Science Performance Tasks (grades 5 -8)
Computational Thinking Practices Video and Examples
Coding Tools for Elementary Grades
Coding Tools for Middle Grades
Computer Science Without a Computer: CS Unplugged
References: Taki, M. and Alnahhas, A., Kids Programming Marathon: Increased Engagement with Computer Science Education, Olympiads in Informatics, 2019, Vol. 13, 225–235, 2019 IOI, Vilnius University. DOI: 10.15388/ioi.2019.16
