Sphero Computer Science Foundations Course 1-3

• Grades: 3-8
• Hours of Curriculum: 300+
• Standards:  Aligned to NGSS, CSTA and various international and state standards

Computer Science Foundations (CSF) is a supplemental, standards-aligned curriculum designed to be taught in the classroom with Sphero's robots. Across 3 courses and 72 lessons, teachers and students will explore STEAM principles through creative coding.

By the end of these courses, students will demonstrate a mastery of block programming by manipulating sensors, loops, conditionals, variables, and functions, and rewrite simple block programs in JavaScript.

Objectives & Themes

• In Course 1, students will demonstrate proficiency with the Draw Canvas and know how to use block programs to manipulate lights and sounds and create loops and conditionals.
• In Course 2, students will demonstrate a mastery of block programming by manipulating sensors, loops, conditionals, variables, and functions. They will also understand block to text transitions.
• In Course 3, students will be able to develop complex programs with the Block Canvas and rewrite simple block programs in JavaScript.

“A” in STEAM

You guessed it, we’re talking about the Arts. Using Sphero robots, students will use the Draw and Block Canvas to paint, write poetry, compose music, and dance.

Shapes & Numbers

As students progress to programming with blocks, they’ll learn how to connect numbers in equations, play dice games, design guessing games, and create their own figure skating routines.

Nature

In this theme, students will use their polycarbonate robotic ball to understand the natural world by mimicking the movement of animals, programming a school of fish, and modeling sleep patterns.

Empathy

With their robots and Block programming skills, students will learn to communicate clearly with their partners, offer praise and encouragement, and grow their classroom community.

Storytelling

In this series of Block lessons, students will use their Sphero robots to represent the elements of a story, develop dialogue, retell historical events, and even overcome writer’s block.

Game Design

Bring out your inner gamer through a series of lessons designed to develop your Block programming skills—play Bingo, search for hidden treasure and build your own set of dice.

Missions

In this series of lessons, students will become critical thinkers and problem-solvers as they puzzle through obstacle courses, lockboxes, secret codes, and more.

Navigation

From exploring how animals migrate to planning a road trip, this series of lessons brings the world of navigation to life for students through hands-on programming with their Sphero

Brain Breakers

In this theme, students develop their problem-solving and collaboration skills while creating secret codes, solving riddles and cracking a bank robbery.

Student Facing Instructions and Pre-loaded Blocks for Every Activity

Teachers can access every lesson in the Sphero Edu app by scanning the QR code or by navigating to the CS Foundations tab under ‘Activities’ in the app. Teachers can then assign individual lessons to each student’s Workbook. Many lessons have pre-loaded blocks so students can start coding right away.

What's Included: 

• 72 lessons in three printed teacher guide books
• 1 year license to all digital student facing materials and content