Ada Lovelace Lesson Plan: Science, Technology, and Society

Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8

*Click to open and customize your own copy of the Ada Lovelace Lesson Plan.

This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Ada Lovelace, and supports the standard of analyzing the role of scientists and inventors in technological advances. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of  projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Display an image of early computing machines and modern computers, like the images below:

 

 

 

 

 

Ask students: 

  • How are these computers different? How might they be similar?
  • How do you think the early computers evolved into modern computers? 

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

  • Read aloud the description on the Ada Lovelace topic page.
  • Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.
  • Assign Related Reading. Have students read one of the following articles: “Careers” or “Personalities.” Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign Ada Lovelace Challenge and Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about Ada Lovelace while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

  • Make-a-Movie: Create a talk-show style movie where you interview Ada Lovelace about her work, and how it might impact future technology. 
  • Make-a-Map: Make a concept map analyzing how Ada Lovelace’s work built on existing technologies, and laid the foundation for the future of computer science
  • Creative Coding: Code a meme representing Ada Lovelace’s importance to computer science. 
  •  Primary Source Activity: Analyze the letter from Ada Lovelace’s tutor and cite evidence to answer the accompanying questions.

More to Explore

Time Zone X: Ada Lovelace: Place historical events in chronological order in this interactive timeline game.

Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of technological innovators with these topics: Grace Hopper and Alan Turing.  

Teacher Support Resources:

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Related:

    Filed as:  3-5, 6-8, Ada Lovelace, BrainPOP, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.4, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.7, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.4