Let's look at some examples of statements and non-statements to define the kind of sentences that form statements.
To talk about statements, we’ll start with some examples of statements and non-statements.
The trains are always late. | Welcome to the University of Auckland! |
Tailgating is a top cause of car accidents. | How can I stop tailgating? |
I like bananas because they have no bones. | When the car ahead reaches an object, make sure you can count to four crocodiles before you reach the same object. |
Statements
So what makes something a statement?
- Definition: Statements are the kind of sentences that are either true or false.
As such, a statement is an assertion that something is or is not the case. A statement is true if what it asserts is the case, and it is false if what it asserts is not the case.
For instance, the statement “The trains are always late” is only true if what it describes is the case, i.e., if it is actually the case that the trains are always late. This is false in Auckland. Sometimes trains are on time, and sometimes they are early. Someone may impatiently complain that the trains are always late to express their exasperation with the train system, but strictly speaking what they say is false.
It is true that bananas have no bones, and I do like bananas, but I like bananas because they are tasty and healthy, not because they have no bones. I would thus say something false if I said “I like bananas because they have no bones.” That’s why “I like bananas because they have no bones” is a statement. It is the kind of sentence that is either true or false – in this case false.
Non-statements
However, it doesn’t make sense to say that the sentence “Welcome to the University of Auckland!” is either true or false. Wouldn’t you be puzzled if someone answered “true” in response to the greetings? It wouldn’t be an appropriate answer. “How can I stop tailgating?” is a question; the sentence doesn’t express something that is either true or false.
Finally, “When the car ahead reaches an object, make sure you can count to four crocodiles before you reach the same object.” is an advice. It advises you to make sure you can count up to four crocodiles (one crocodile, two crocodiles,…,four crocodiles) before you reach the same object as the car preceding you. Try it! You’ll be a much safer driver (that’s a true statement!).
More about Statements
So sentences that can be true or false are statements. Quite simple. But things can get more complicated. Let’s see how.
Something can be a statement even if we don’t know whether it’s true or false. All that matters about statements is that they are the kind of things that can be true or false, not that we know whether they are true or false. For instance:
- Ivan Slotvsky, the famous Irish builder of Madrid, is eating ham steaks and chutney at this very moment.
True or false? I don’t know. But it is the kind of thing that could be true or false.
Here’s another one:
- Sometime in the next 39 years, I will have a creepy next door neighbour.
So far, so good. I’ve been lucky and I haven’t had a creepy next door neighbour. But the statement is true if it will be the case some day that I have a creepy next door neighbour in the next 39 years. Otherwise, the statement is false. But I don’t know whether the statement is true or false. Regardless, what matters is that this sentence is the kind of thing that is true or false.
Another example:
I have no idea what Vero or Promina are. But the sentence expresses something that is either true or false.
The same statement can be true on some occasions and false in others. That is, statements are not always true or always false.
Here’s an example:
This statement is true of Tim, and it’s false of Patrick. Or the statement
- Patrick is a happily married man.
was false before Patrick got married, it is true now (while I’m typing this), and it may become false in the future.
Ambiguous Statements
One difficulty with statements is that they may sometimes express two different things. We call those ambiguous statements. Here’s an example:
- John greeted everybody with a smile.
What are the two states of affairs that this statement may be describing? Try and answer this for yourself before proceeding.
Answer:
- John was smiling and then he greeted everybody. In this case, it’s true that he greeted everybody with a smile – his smile.
- Maybe there were smiling people and non-smiling people, and John only greeted the ones that were smiling.
The sentence “John greeted everybody with a smile” can thus be used to describe two different things. That’s what makes it ambiguous.
You need to be careful about this. If you use ambiguous statements, you run the risk of having others misunderstand what you are saying. In some cases, what others think you are saying may be very different from what you were trying to express. For example, Tim is an early bird. He gets up early every morning, and always before his wife. Now, suppose he tried to express this by saying:
- I beat my wife up everyday.
That would most certainly be taken the wrong way. Try and make sure you don’t use ambiguous sentences!
Questions and Commands
In the second list of non-statements, we had questions and commands, and those are typically not statements.
- If humans evolved from monkeys, how come we still have monkeys?
This question does not express something that can be true or false. It makes no sense to respond “true” or “false” when you hear it. It’s not a statement. Notice that a part of the sentence is a statement, namely “humans evolved from monkeys”. This is a false statement. Humans did not evolve from monkeys. Humans, monkeys, and apes in general, have a common ancestor that is no longer around. Even though the question contains as a part a false statement, it doesn’t make the question itself something that is true or false.
Sometimes, however, in a special context, the same question could be used to express a statement. Can you imagine a context in which someone might use this question to express something that is true or false? If so, then presumably the person would be using the question to express that it is false that humans evolved from monkeys, since there are still monkeys. We call questions that are used to express statements rhetorical questions. When you see a rhetorical question, you should always rephrase it as a statement. In our case, the statement would be something like this:
- Humans did not evolve from monkeys, because we still have monkeys.
In summary, statements are the kind of sentences that are either true or false. Sentences are ambiguous when they can be used to express several statements. When you have an ambiguous sentence, you need to decide which statement it is being used to express. Questions, commands and advice are typically not statements, because they do not express something that is either true or false. But sometimes people use them rhetorically to express statements. We saw an example of a question which by itself is not a statement, but can be used to express a statement. When you see rhetorical questions, always rephrase them as statements.
This post may contain affiliate links.
What is Computational Thinking?
Computational thinking is the step that comes before programming. It’s the process of breaking down a problem into simple enough steps that even a computer would understand.
We all know that computers take instructions very literally, sometimes to comic results. If we don’t provide computers with instructions that are precise and detailed, your algorithm might forget vital actions that most people take for granted.
For example, consider a simple activity like brushing your teeth. At first it sounds like a simple enough task, but in fact, brushing your teeth involves many simple steps. First, you’ll need a toothbrush and toothpaste. You’ll need a sink with cold water. You’ll need to put the toothpaste on the brush. Don’t forget to turn on the water and run your brush underneath.
As you see, such a simple activity actually involves many steps, if you miss one step or put one out of order you might end up with a huge mess!
Computational thinking helps students develop skills that are attractive for future employment opportunities. Computer science is the fastest growing job market and students will skills in coding are highly sought after job applicants.
While the hard tech skills are very important, it’s the softer skills of reasoning and problem solving that employers really find attractive. These skills for success are the key to understanding why computational thinking is so valuable.
While there are obvious benefits for future employment, it’s the development of critical thinking and emotional competencies that set up students for long-term success. When children learn computational thinking skills, it helps them to develop skills important for not only STEM subjects, but also across the social sciences and language arts. In fact, a recent study demonstrated that computational thinking skills were highly correlated with a non-verbal measure of intelligence.
When children develop computational skills they are able to articulate a problem and think logically. It helps them to break down the issues at hand and predict what may happen in the future. It’s helping them to explore cause and effect and analyze how their actions or the actions of others impact the given situation. These skills can have powerful impacts on children and how they manage their relationships with those around them.
Key Skills for Computational Thinking
There are four key skills in computational thinking:
- Decomposition
- Pattern Recognition
- Pattern Abstraction
- Algorithm Design
Decomposition
Decomposition is breaking down complex problems into smaller, more manageable chunks. With young children, you can teach decomposition by getting them to teach you how to perform a simple task.
Any simple activity like brushing teeth, making breakfast, or reading a book will work. Students will need to break down the task into small simple steps. Be sure to give them a challenge and only do what is asked of you! With this activity, kids will quickly see how important it is to give the EXACT instructions.
Decomposition allows students to assess the problem at hand and figure out out all of the steps needed to make the task happen. One way to teach older students the skill of decomposition is to have them build something by only showing them the finished project. Give them the supplies needed, and get them to make it without instructions. Students will need to figure out the steps needed to complete the final project.
Decomposition is an important life skill in the future when students and adults need to take on larger tasks. Students will learn ways to delegate in group projects and build time management skills.
Pattern recognition
Pattern recognition is simply looking for patterns in the puzzles and determining could any of the problems or solutions we’ve encountered in the past apply here? What have we learned in the past that may help us sort out this problem?
If you’ve ever built a piece of IKEA furniture, you’ll understand the importance of patterns. When building an IKEA drawer unit it will likely take you much longer to assemble the first drawer than the fourth or fifth.
When we repeat steps in our build we learn how to solve the instructions more quickly and learn from our mistakes. The painstaking process of assembling that first part teaches us the skills to perform the process more efficiently in the future.
With young children we can use examples of everyday life to teach the concept of patterns (and loops for that matter), good examples are eating; the repetition of bringing each bite to our mouths, chewing, and swallowing.
There are lots of ways to teach pattern recognition in the classroom. Younger students may benefit from exploring patterns using music or colored blocks. Older students may learn about patterns by looking at the periodic table or exploring the patterns seen in multiplication charts.
Students who love LEGO can use their building skills to explore patterns. In LEGO sets there are often repeated patterns for similar parts of a build. For example, a LEGO set may require 4 wheels to be built the same way. Teachers could give students an object to build that has several repeated patterns and only give instructions for the first part.
Pattern generalization and abstraction
Pattern generalization helps students learn to identify the details that are relevant to solving the problem and ignoring the details that aren’t relevant to the issue at hand. Identifying the crucial information in a problem and disregarding the irrelevant information is one of the hardest parts of computational learning.
Escape rooms are an example of a popular activity that helps to build on the concepts of pattern generalization and abstraction. Participants will have to solve a series of puzzles, riddles, and locks to escape their room in record time.
Escape rooms often have lots of irrelevant details and props designed to throw the participants off course. Only the best abstractors will be able to sort out the relevant details for solving their puzzle.
A classroom escape room activity is a perfect way to get kids using their abstraction skills while having fun.
Younger students may benefit from a building activity where a variety of extra pieces and objects are given that aren’t part of the design. Students will have to understand which pieces are important to the design and which are irrelevant.
Algorithm design
Algorithm design is setting out the steps and rules needed to follow in order to achieve the same desired outcome every time. An easy way to teach this concept to young learners is to give them a task and tell them to write down the steps.
A common one is the steps to making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Have each student write down all the steps and then have them trade with another student. Using only the directions in front of them have them make their sandwiches. This will comically illustrate the importance of including small directions like “using a knife” or “putting the pieces of bread together” to form the sandwich.
Examples of Computational Thinking in Real Life
Computational thinking is defined as the process of formulating and solving problems by breaking them down into simple steps. It is a powerful problem-solving technique that equips us to solve complex problems in the modern world.
Computational thinking can be observed in the way people make decisions, do basic arithmetic, and solve problems. The following examples demonstrate how computational thinking is being used to solve real-world problems.
- Using an algorithm to find the best route between two places based on traffic and other factors like construction or road blocks
- Students use computational thinking skills when deciding whether to plan an activity based on weather predictions on an app
- Following a recipe to bake a cake an an example of an algorithm.
- Planning a budget involves pattern recognition and decomposition when you determine your spending habits in each category
Computational Thinking Activities and Lessons
There’s a wide variety of resources available to help educators plan lessons for students working to improve their computational learning skills and many are free! These resources range from basic for beginners (as young as preschool!) to more advanced computational thinking concepts for older or more advanced students.
FREE Computational Thinking Worksheets
We’ve designed a set of worksheets to teach computational thinking concepts in the classroom. Worksheets will introduce the basic concepts of computational thinking. Answer guides are included.
Other Computational Thinking Resources:
Computational Thinking in The Classroom
It’s easy to get started with learning computational thinking in the classroom. You can use many of the activities and resources listed above to bring the power of computational thinking to your class. However, if you prefer to read more in depth, here are some book suggestions to get you started:
Computational thinking is important!
As you can see, computational thinking is an important skill for students to understand. The skills students gain from ‘thinking like a computer’ will set them up for future success. Have you brought computational thinking to your classroom? I’d love to hear how it went! Let me know in the comments below.
What is computational thinking?
Computational thinking is a very useful problem-solving technique that allows you to break down problems into simple steps.
What are the 4 stages of computational thinking?
There are four key skills in computational thinking. These are decomposition, pattern recognition, pattern abstraction and algorithm design.
What is an example of computational thinking?
We use computational thinking every day! You use computational thinking when you decide what route to take to get to work or school based on information like traffic reports, weather and construction.
How do I teach my child computational thinking?
A wide variety of resources are available for educators to help them plan lessons & cover important aspects of computational learning. Many resources are free! Check out our examples in the resource section above.
How do I improve my computational thinking?
The next time you are faced with a task or problem, remember the four principles of computational thinking. Break the problem down into smaller steps, look for patterns and follow an algorithm. Practicing these techniques will improve your computational thinking skills.
Conclusion: Improve the Skills of Your Future Leaders by Teaching Them Computational Thinking Now
Computational thinking is all about solving a problem using computational skills. This skill will help the future leaders of tomorrow, not just in their careers but also in their daily life.
We need to teach computational thinking now to improve the skills of our future leaders and allow them to be more creative and innovative when they are faced with a problem or a challenge.
Pin for later!
Katie is mom of two rambunctious boys and a self-proclaimed super nerd. With a background in neuroscience, she is passionate about sharing her love of all things STEM with her kids. She loves to find creative ways to teach kids computer science and geek out about coding and math. You can find her blogging at Teach Your Kids Code.