Students at Edith Cavell recently participated in The Hour of Code, an initiative sponsored by Code.org that aims to introduce kids to computer science, in particular demystifying code and showing that anyone can learn the basics.

Using a web based tutorial, students learned and practiced how to write code in a game based format using video lectures by Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg among others.

When the students finished this self-directed tutorial, they were surprised to learn that they had written over 80 lines of code, all while helping the Angry Bird get the Pig and the Zombie devour the Plants. 

"Who knew coding could be so fun?" asked Judy Fung, Cavell Elementary's teacher-librarian.

While Fung's class was working away online, another Cavell class worked through "My Robotic Friends" a hands-on activity which mimics real computer programming using stacking cups, pencil and paper and "robot vocabulary." 

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