SOC: Lesson - Acting For Your World

Image: volunteers clean up trash on the beachActing For Your World

Have you ever heard the following phrase?

"There is no time like the present."

What does that mean to you? For many, this phrase is a reminder: that you can do something positive and the best time to do it is now. Think about a trip to the beach. You bring along some bottled water. Just the act of picking up that trash and putting it in the recycle bin when you leave makes a huge difference!

Many middle school students are unaware of their power to create positive change. Not at some future date, but right now, as a kid. Many believe that trying to improve the world or acting for the benefit of others is an "adult thing". However, creating positive change is (or at least should be) a human thing. You are never too young to impact positive change.

Creating an Impact

Change is part of life - every day, everybody is changing and growing. It's up to us to decide whether we want that growth to be for the greater good of those around us. 

One way that we can make a difference, even a small one, is by creating programs that are beneficial to the people who use them. Beneficial just means doing something good. With the power of computers and the added power of programming, you can make someone's life better! Remember the start of our design process: identify a problem. Ask yourself: what can I do to help _____? How can I help fix that problem? You might find that an app that you design can help people.

And if you help someone, you've changed the world for the better. That's what we mean by saying "creating an impact". A lot of small changes can make for big changes in the world.

App Lab - Practice Activity 02

Head over the Code.org's App Lab Introduction Links to an external site.. You do not have to create an account to complete this activity. Complete exercises 10-15 (watch the tutorial videos on page 10 and 14!) in the Intro to App Lab activity, which is about setting properties.

How did it go? Were you able to complete the activities? If so: congratulations - you did some programming in this activity!

Use the practice activity below to answer some basic questions about App Lab and your experience with it.

RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.