1. In order to decompose the problem, Matt and Hayley begin doing research for ways that they can save money with a baby in the house. Matt looks up ways that they can cut spending costs when it comes to babies, and ways that he and Hayley can cut their spending as well.
2. Matt and Hayley want to lower their cost of having a baby, so that they are able to afford having multiple children. They both want Hayley to still be able to be a stay at home mom. Matt doesn’t want to have to take on multiple jobs, but he also doesn’t want Hayley to have to provide extra income for the family, either. Matt decides that they need to change some of the ways that they live in order to save money, but how?
3. The two of them identified patterns in their research. They noticed that many parents who were trying to cut costs when it came to their children decided to do things like breastfeed and cloth diaper. They also noticed that people trying to save money cut out unnecessary bills like Internet and TV. Some people learned how to do certain things at home in order to save money, like pedicures and haircuts.
4. They then designed an algorithm for their problem by coming up with a plan to save money. They decided that Hayley would strictly breastfeed their first child (if this was something that she was successful at) and that they would try using some cloth diapers to see how they liked them. As far as their bills go, they decided to cut Internet, and just use the hotspots on their phones, since they had unlimited Internet through their cell phone provider. They cut TV, and built a 30-foot antenna in order to pick up free TV from the Amarillo stations two hours away. Then, Hayley learned how to cut Matt’s hair and began giving herself in-home pedicures.
5. Finally, they created an abstraction by generalizing the patterns in the money saving process. They realized that there are tons of ways that people can save money, if they really put their minds to it. For example, they could cut grocery costs by cutting out certain types of paper products, like napkins and just using washcloths instead. They could choose to learn how to coupon, or they could choose to buy things like clothes second hand. The possibilities for money saving are endless, and expanding the family is plausible! Hello baby #2, coming this October!
6. Rationale: This is an example of the decomposition concept because it is breaking down Matt and Hayley’s problem into smaller parts by doing research for the necessary steps to find ways that they can save money with a baby in the house. According to Google, decomposition is, “Breaking down data, processes, or problems into smaller, manageable parts” (“Google Computational Thinking for Educators”, n.d.). This is what Matt and Hayley are doing, as they search for ways to cut spending from both the baby aspect, and their personal lives as well.
7. Rationale: This is an example of the pattern recognition concept because they are using their research to find patterns of what other people do in order to save money. According to another Google video, “We use pattern recognition to help us identify similarities and differences” (“Google for Education”, 2012). Matt and Hayley are finding money saving similarities and differences in order to apply what works and what doesn’t to their own problem.
8. Rationale: This is an example of the algorithm part of the assignment because Hayley and Matt came up with steps to solve their problem. According to Google, Algorithm is defined as, “Developing the step by step instructions for solving this and similar problems” (“Google Computational Thinking for Educators”, n.d.). They were able to come up with steps to save themselves money, and in the long run, be able to provide for more than one child.
9. Rationale: This section is a good example of abstraction because it allows solutions of saving money that can be transferred to other people’s similar problems. From one of the weekly readings, we learned that, “Abstraction involves the ability to generalize and transfer a solution from one problem to similar problems” (Yadav, Hong, & Stephenson, 2016). These solutions that Matt and Hayley came up with can be used outside of just trying to save for a baby, and people can use them to save money for other reasons. People can use these solutions for a multitude of similar problems.
10. Google Computational Thinking for Educators. (n.d.). What is computational thinking? Retrieved from https://computationalthinkingcourse.withgoogle.com/unit Google for Education. (2012, June 22). Solving problems at Google using computational thinking [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVVB5RQfYxk Yadav, A., Hong, H. & Stephenson, C. (2016). Computational thinking for all: Pedagogical approaches to embedding 21st century problem solving in K-12 classrooms. TechTrends, 60(6), 565-568.
