Computing, 11–13 years — 44 topics · MyLeoNes™ Kuks
44 computing topics written for 11–13 years — not a older text simplified. In teaching order, each a deck of five cards: the idea, why it exists, a worked example, the common trap and where you meet it.
Computing · 11–13 years
Memory and storage
Computers use different places for information: one is quick and temporary, another keeps files when the power is off.
Compression
Compression makes a file smaller by storing its information more cleverly, so it can be saved or sent using less space.
Recursion
Recursion solves a large problem by applying the same rule to a smaller version of the problem, until a simple stopping point is reached.
APIs: programs working together
An API is an agreed way for one program to ask another program for a service, without needing to know how that service is built inside.
Abstraction: hiding detail to see the idea
Abstraction lets you use a complicated thing without carrying every detail in your head.
Randomness in programs
Randomness gives programs choices that are hard to predict, useful for games, models, and fair selection.
Simulation: testing a model
A simulation uses a simplified version of a real situation so you can try ideas safely and cheaply.
Parallelism: doing work at the same time
Parallelism splits work so several parts can be handled together, when the parts do not depend on one another.
Authentication
How a computer checks that you are really the person behind an account.
Networks and routers
How separate devices find one another and choose a path for information.
HTML structure
How a web page marks what each piece of content is.
Version control
How a project keeps a history of changes so you can understand or undo them.
Testing programs
Testing means deliberately trying a program with chosen examples to discover whether it behaves as intended. It gives you evidence before other people rely on your code.
Trees: nested relationships
A tree organises information in levels, with one starting point and branches below it. It is useful when things belong inside other things, such as folders, family links, or choices in a game.
CSS styling
CSS controls how a web page looks without changing the page’s main content. You learn to separate meaning from appearance, then set colours, spacing, sizes, and layout with rules.
Phishing
Phishing is a trick that uses a believable message or website to make you reveal information or take an unsafe action. You learn to pause, check the source independently, and avoid rewarding the trick.
The CPU instruction cycle
A processor does not understand a whole program at once. It repeatedly fetches one instruction, works out what it says, carries it out, and then moves to the next one.
Compilation
People write programs in languages designed for humans, while processors need much more precise instructions. A compiler translates the first into another form that the computer can run or prepare to run.
Processes and multitasking
A running program is a process: it has work to do and uses computer resources. An operating system shares time and resources between processes, so several apps can appear to run together.
Digital footprint
Your digital footprint is the trail of information created when you use websites, apps, devices, and online services. Some parts are posted by you; others are recorded automatically, so privacy requires attention rather than panic.
Command line
Use text commands to work directly with a computer, instead of choosing every action from a menu.
DNS: names for internet addresses
Discover how a readable website name is matched to the numerical address of a computer.
Accessibility: technology for different users
Learn how digital tools can be made usable by people with different bodies, senses, languages, and ways of thinking.
Data visualisation: showing patterns clearly
Turn numbers into charts that help you see comparisons, changes, and patterns without hiding what the data says.
Algorithms: clear steps for a task
An algorithm is a plan that tells a person or a computer what to do, and in what order.
Binary: how computers represent information
Computers represent information with patterns of two states, written as 0 and 1.
Boolean logic: combining true and false
Boolean logic gives programs a precise way to combine yes-or-no facts, so several conditions can guide one decision.
Conditionals: making choices
A program can choose what to do by checking whether something is true.
Coordinates: placing things on a screen
Coordinates give every position on a screen an address made from numbers. They let programs place, move and find objects precisely.
Data types: different kinds of information
Computers need to know whether something is a number, a piece of text, or a yes-or-no value. Data types help a program handle each kind safely.
Databases
How organised records let a computer store, update and find information.
Debugging: finding and fixing errors
Debugging is a method for discovering why a program behaves differently from what you intended.
Encryption: hiding a message with a key
Encryption changes readable information into scrambled text that should be useless to anyone without the right key for changing it back.
Events: programs reacting to action
An event is something that happens, such as a click, key press or sensor reading, and lets a program respond when it happens.
Functions: reusable named actions
A function gives a useful group of instructions a name, so it can be used without rebuilding it each time.
Input and output
How a computer receives information and gives a result back.
Lists: keeping many things together
A list lets a program keep a group of related values in one organised place, so it can examine, change or repeat work on them.
Loops: repeating instructions
A loop repeats instructions, either a set number of times or while a condition remains true.
Machine learning: finding patterns in examples
In machine learning, people give a computer many examples instead of writing every rule by hand. The computer finds patterns in those examples and uses them to make a useful guess.
Operators: actions on information
Operators are the small instructions that calculate, compare or join values. They let a program do useful work with the information it stores.
Packets: messages travelling in pieces
Networks send digital messages as small packets that can travel separately and be put back together.
Pixels make digital pictures
How a screen builds a picture from tiny coloured points.
Searching data
How a computer finds one item among many, and why order can help.
Variables: names for changing information
A variable gives a piece of information a name, so a program can remember it and change it.
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