I recently came across this cool article in the September 2010 issue of Discover Magazine by Andrew Grant called "Virtual Everything." It discussed how computers are being used to model complex objects, such as burning fuel, earthquakes and our climate. The article has some very colorful photos of the computer generated models that might interest students. You can see a model of a supernova in the picture to the left. Models are used in research where direct scientific observation is difficult. The article's descriptions are short and make quick reading for students. I thought this would make a great homework assignment for my students, as we had just discussed the central idea of "What can be modeled?" in computer science. I assigned the article for homework and asked the students to also review the article on Wikipedia about computer modeling. Have your students read the article and then blog about their favorite model. I also encouraged my students to do some further research on a particular model and to present their findings to the class.

Discover Questions:
What is a computer model?
Why are they important for research?
Are computer games models?

Back To School

We started back to school a couple of days ago and this year I've taken on the challenge of teaching computer science at my school. Even though I received a masters degree in information technology from a tech school, I've shied away from teaching programming for a number of years. I've taught earth science, world history, web design and a number of other subjects over the years. However, being the chair of the technology department, I've decided to sit down, crack a few knuckles, and work on these skills. See, I'm more of a big picture kind of guy rather than someone who can process and debug line after line of code. I see one of the biggest problems in the field is trying to convince students that computing is cool. They probably suffer from the same phobias about the subject matter that I do. So, at least when class starts in a few days, we'll be starting from the same place.

Despite what I've thought in the past, and probably most people think today, computers are cool. More than ever, we need bright, inventive young minds to help us solve the problems that we face today. This is what computers do. They help us model and study every-day things. Nerds have engineered them to take in data from their environment, process it, store it if there's a lot of data, and then spit out the information we need, hopefully. It's through this modeling process that users, like us (me the writer and you the reader, or user), can use computers to be more productive, organize information, look at problems from different angles, or help us to express our ideas to others. They are used in the movie industry for special effects. They help artists render and transform images in new ways. They help spies break codes. They help astronomers learn about the composition of the stars, and they help industrialists improve production through the use of robots. They are even having students play games to solve problems, such as Fold It.

I'm actually anxious to get back in the classroom and share some of these discoveries with my students. Mainly, we're going to be studying how to program in Python and Java. First year students will be using Python and my Advanced Placement students will be working with Java. But, I also plan on integrating architecture, food, art, language, music, and writing with logic, algorithms, programming, mathematics and robotics. If you have any ideas, please pass them on.