Science in the Library

Yesterday, to celebrate Computer Science Education Week , we focused on learning about one of the newest trends in computer science: machine learning artificial intelligence. We discussed how artificial intelligence can help humanity and the Earth, by making it easier to operate prosthetics, create tools for assisting people with disabilities, identify diseases and tackle environmental issues. But it can also be used for harm, such as to trick people into believing they are talking to a real person when they are not, or to trick people into believing they are watching a famous person say something they never really said. And this is just the start. That's why it's so important to learn how artificial intelligence works, so that we can harness its power for good and ethical purposes. Code.org has a site offering resources about Computer Science for Good , and yesterday we tried out their cool AI for Oceans activity . This activity teaches kids how machine learning computers ...

Right now we're doing a four-week class on making animations with Scratch. Last week, we introduced the kids to the Scratch interface and some of the key blocks they would need. They animated a simple sprite that had multiple costumes already built. One of the challenges of doing a program like Scratch coding is that if you have the kids code a predetermined project step by step, they may learn more tools but they don't have as much opportunity to think critically or creatively. I used to teach Scratch with tutorials where I told the kids, step by step, how to build the code. Now I don't do that as much anymore. Instead, I want the kids to follow a set of instructions but figure out the blocks to use on their own. Kids like individuality. They don't want their project to come out looking exactly like everyone else's. They want options. So I created some cards, inspired by the Scratch Cards on ScratchEd . I gave each kid a challenge, like "Make a Bat Fl...

On Thursday, March 15, kids came to the Studio on 4th at Pasadena Central Library to learn about HTML and CSS, and build a website that would be an interactive birthday card or greeting for a friend. Most kids did birthday cards but a few had other great ideas, such as a get well card for a sick friend. I've always wanted to do a web design class like this, but eight years ago when I first learned HTML and CSS, there weren't the great teaching tools that we have out there now. I found a lot of great stuff on KhanAcademy but the thing I liked most was the WebLab at Code.org which allows you to see your webpage appear simultaneously in a side viewer. It's a great tool for teaching kids how to code! One drawback I experienced was a lack of time. I had a lot of content prepared and could easily have filled a two-hour class with it. We didn't get through much of the CSS in the hour time we had allotted. So we had a file loaded onto our library laptops to give the ki...

Today we made videogames using Scratch, based on the infamous "Flappy Bird" videogame that brought its creators notoriety and established them in the halls of memorable bad game design forever :) We followed a tutorial I created and chose new sprites for our flappy character--many kids chose airplanes, fish, or other animals, and a few chose bats. The end code looks something like this (this is just the code for the bat that flies through the pipes): The final product is supposed to work like this (click on the picture and you'll be taken to the game which you can play): If you'd like to see the kids' projects they are posted here: Pasadena Library Kids' Blog The kids did a great job. Even one child who was not really very experienced with Scratch turned out to be quite sharp and able to follow all the difficult instructions. Despite having a lot of technical difficulties, almost everyone was able to go home with a finished game emailed to the...