STEMHacks' own hour of code module for Downingtown STEM Academy
Often times people will think that programming is only something you need to learn if you want to be a programmer. But that could not be farther from the truth
Programming is a skill that can be applied to hundreds of different subjects. Today we are going to explore some examples of these and see how coding can relate to you. Below are different links separated by category that show off what coding can do and how it could help you explore your interests.
Our recommendation is that you open the different links in new tabs by right-clicking or double clicking on the link and then clicking "open in new tab"
Octave is an incredible tool for mathematics. It lets users do complex calculations and make complicated graphs that you couldn't make anywhere else.
Here is some sample code you can copy and paste into octave to show you what it can do.
[x,y]=meshgrid(-0.5:0.1:0.5);
z=sin(x)+cos(y);
surf(z)
D3 Graphs is a programming tool that can help you make almost any type of graph you can image. On the website there are literally hundreds of grpahs that you can look at and learn to make.
Seeing Theory - This is a website that shows some incredible visualizations of complicated math concepts. So if a concept in math is making you struggle this could clear it up.
Google Art gallery or projects made with code - Google once held an event where they asked as many developers as they could to make some art by using technology. Here is the full gallery of projects; each project has a detailed description and explanation of how it was built.
Make your own art with code - This is a project that shows you how to make different 3d art step by step in code.
Animations with Code - Examples of some of the fluidity of animating using code.
3D Art with Code - Lots of different examples of 3d art made with the same code that makes websites.
Virtual Reality Art with Code - Learn how to make virtual reality art.
Animals animated with Code - An example of some animations that can be made with code.
AutoDraw - Use Artifical Intelligence to help you draw.
Make music using your fedex tracking number
Make instrumental music from a sentence
Perfectly loop a song using code
Use Artifical Intelligence to find research papers
Scilab - Tool used for performing many scientific calculations in the real world.
To run an example, select a category, then book, then select an example you are interested in. Finally, hit execute and see what it does.
Open Knowledge Maps - Use the power of open source programming to find more research papers
Simulate Circuits - With this program you can create a breadboard onlien and learn about how electronics work
Use code and economics data to make money
Use Computers to play a game and help to make find new ways to make medicine.
A computer simulation that shows how language evolves
Design artwork online with Figma
Hack this Site - This is a nice website where you can learn cyber security by participating in some fun challenges where you, as the name says, hack the website.
0xf - This website contains several little cyber security challenges.
Pwnable - This website provides cyber security challenges known as wargame challenges.
Use code to send real world mail
Simulate the cold war This game lets you tinker with settings to see how the Cold War might have played out under other circumstances.
Code a robot to fight other robots
If anything you see above seems interesting or useful, congrats! Coding is a great skill for you to learn. Below are a couple of great links for if you want to learn more about programming.
Free Code Camp - Learn to program by helping non-profits.
Codecademy - A great place to test the waters with programming. Learn the basics of programming here.
Khanacademy - Learn how to code from Sal Khan himself.