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integrated computational thinking

Algorithms 1: Intro to Algorithms

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Step 6 of 10: Algorithms in Math
an example of a long division equation

In math classes, algorithms help students learn to multiply and divide, to find the greatest common divisor (GCD), and to solve a system of linear equations. When students are prompted with a math problem, they can discover that they are using an algorithm that solves the problem they are currently working on while someone else can point out that they followed the same steps to solve a different math problem.

For students in science classes, the most common algorithms that they encounter are those based on the scientific method and the procedures that they develop to conduct an experiment. At the abstract level, experiments involve a pattern of making conjectures, deriving predictions from those conjectures, and then testing those conjectures in an experimental process. More specifically, the experimental process can involve a series of steps that are recorded so that the experiment is replicable using the algorithm.