Concept starter set
Computing Without a Computer
Six unplugged lessons that teach the foundations of computer science — binary, sorting, error detection, graphs, and cryptography — using nothing but paper, cards, and people.
6 lessons · Grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 · ~5 hr total
You don’t need a cart of laptops to teach the ideas behind the technology. This starter set walks through the load-bearing concepts of computer science — how machines represent information (binary), put it in order (sorting networks), catch their own mistakes (error detection), find the best path (graphs and shortest routes), color a map without conflicts (graph coloring), and keep a secret (ciphers) — entirely off-screen. Each lesson is self-contained, so teach the whole set as an intro-to-CS arc or borrow one to deepen a math or science unit.
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2026-12 · Unplugged + plugged · 40 min
Binary Ornaments
Students encode their initials in binary as bead or paper ornaments, discovering place value in base-2 — the simple on/off building blocks that the people who shape tomorrow's technology start from.
Math · Elementary (multi-subject) · CS/Technology — grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8
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2026-08 · Unplugged + plugged · 45 min
The Sorting Network
Students become a human sorting network, racing numbered cards through a chalk-drawn circuit — discovering how big results emerge from many tiny comparisons, and that the order a machine shows is a designed choice they could one day make.
Math · CS/Technology — grades 3-5, 6-8
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2026-09 · Unplugged + plugged · 40 min
Error Detection Card Trick
A parity "magic trick" with a grid of two-sided cards lets students catch a single flipped card every time — the same idea that keeps your downloads, barcodes, and messages from silently corrupting.
Math · CS/Technology — grades 3-5, 6-8
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2026-06 · Unplugged + plugged · 55 min
The Road Trip Router
Students hand-run a shortest-path search on a map of towns — always extending the cheapest-known frontier and recording why each town's distance is final — then count the work as the map grows, discovering Dijkstra's algorithm and why a smart router beats checking every possible route.
CS/Technology · Math — grades 6-8, 9-12
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2026-11 · Unplugged + plugged · 45 min
Gratitude Graph Coloring
Students color a "thankful-for" map so no two touching regions share a color, using as few colors as possible — meeting graph coloring, the math that quietly schedules exams, assigns radio frequencies, and routes the systems they could one day design.
Math · CS/Technology — grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
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2027-02 · Unplugged + plugged · 45 min
Secret Valentine Ciphers
Students build paper cipher wheels to encrypt valentine messages with Caesar and keyword ciphers, then try to crack each other's with frequency analysis — meeting the math that keeps a whole community's messages private, and the kind of secure systems they could one day design.
Math · CS/Technology — grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
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