Welcome
KELP-CS is a modular curriculum for 4th-6th graders created by an interdisciplinary research team at UC Santa Barbara. Each of our modules consists of 16 hours of instruction, and can be used for each grade level. The first module introduces students to block-based programming and digital storytelling. The second develops these programming skills further and teaches students about game design.
Moreover, KELP-CS emphasizes engineering design thinking, the process by which engineers develop innovative solutions to problems. Design thinking is a core part of new science standards for K-12 students, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and involves understanding the problem, generating ideas, selecting an idea based on multiple constraints, and improving the idea. We see design thinking overlapping with computer science in ways that allow students to access each in new and exciting ways!