STEAM Learning Kits

Designed to visually represent common logic and control structures used in programming, and it can also be used to create visual instructions to children by parents.

Start block

Used to mark the beginning of a set of instructions.

End block

Used to mark the end of a set of instructions.

Task block

Can be used to represent the smallest step in a process or instruction (e.g. apply toothpaste onto the toothbrush), or it can be used to summarize a sequence of steps (e.g. brush your teeth).

Conditional block - IF statements

Used to create a logic structure where a condition is checked, and the next step determined by whether the condition is met (TRUE) or not (FALSE).

Conditional block - entry tested LOOP statements

Used to create a logic structure where a condition is checked, and a task is performed if the condition is met (TRUE), and the condition is checked again, or if the condition is not met (FALSE), then you exit the loop.

Conditional block - exit tested LOOP statements

Used to create a logic structure where a task is performed, and at the end of the task a condition is checked so that if it is met (TRUE), the task is performed again, or else the condition is not met (FALSE), then you exit the loop.

Auxiliary blocks

Used to complete conditional blocks, or to space out the diagram so that it is visually clear.

Using the LIK to teach/learn about control structure (e.g. for programming):

First, you need to place a start block at the top, then followed by any of the task and conditional blocks. You may also need to use auxiliary blocks to help complete the various IF and LOOP statements and space out the diagram neatly. When you are finished, place an end block after the last block.

Using the LIK to visually represent instructions (e.g. for children to follow):

First, you need to use LIK to teach/learn about the various types of control structures. Test to see if the child understands the concepts by getting them to replicate them. Create some simple instructions and then get the child to replicate them. Finally, you can create the instructions you want the child to follow and see how well they can follow it. Repeat until they can replicate the instructions reliably.

Designed to visually communicate the relationship between different ideas and entities by using the common representation as depicted in Venn diagrams. It can be used to explain ideas that involve the categorization or grouping of information or concepts.

Non-mutually exclusive block

Used to represent events or items that have overlapping relationships

• Set A - represents one type of characteristic or category

• Set B - represents one type of characteristic or category

• Set C - represents characteristic or category from A and B

• Tokens - represents events or items that belong in Set A, B or C

Mutually exclusive block

Used to represent events or items that have no overlapping relationships

• Set A - represents one type of characteristic or category

• Set B - represents one type of characteristic or category

• Tokens - represents events or items that belong in Set A or B

Using the RSK to teach/learn about the relationship between things:

First, you need to choose the type of relationship that you want to explain to the child, whether it is a non-mutually exclusive or mutually exclusive.

Second, you should explain the concept of a Universal Set, or the idea that there is a category in which every items belongs to.

Take a token and label it with a name that belongs in one of the set (A or B), then take another token and label it with a name that belongs in the other set. If you are using the non-mutually exclusive block, you will also use a third token and label it with a name that belongs in both of the sets (C).

Additional tokens can be used to explain edge cases where the child needs to consider how the way we categorize and label things can affect how we group them.

Example

Using the mutually exclusive block, we label a token as Australia and place it in Set A. We label a second token as Japan and place it in Set B. We ask the child to consider how the two countries can be categorized so that they are not overlapping. A potential solution is the Set A represents Oceania, and Set B represents Asia. Any tokens that fall outside Set A and B can be added like United States or France to reinforce the concept.