- Fulfills Step 1 of GSUSA Daisy App Development badge requirements.
- Fulfills Step 2 of GSUSA Brownie and Junior App Development badge requirements.
Info Needed for Badge Requirements:
Decomposition means breaking a big thing into smaller parts. It’s like taking apart a toy or splitting a big job into little steps, such as picking up toys first, then making your bed when cleaning a room.
App designers use decomposition, too! Instead of thinking about the whole app at once, they break it into pieces: What does the app do? What buttons will it need? What pictures or words will people use? Each part is planned separately to help the whole thing work together.
Items Needed:
- One copy of the Decomposition Rocket per scout
- Tangram pieces from the Decomposition Rocket print out (pre-cut into 7 shapes per scout or bring scissors)
Alternative:
- You can use the Rocket Ship Decomposition by Our Family Code instead of Tangrams.
Instructions (Estimated Time: 15–20 minutes):
- Introduction to Decomposition (1 minute)
- Share that decomposition means taking something big and breaking it into smaller parts, just like how apps are designed step by step.
- Explore Tangram Pieces (3 minutes)
- Show scouts how a square can be cut into seven smaller shapes (Show the Tangram Pieces).
- Ask: “Can you spot how many triangles and squares are in your Tangram set?”
- Rocket Ship Puzzle Activity (7 minutes)
- Give each scout the Decomposition Rocket and have them build it using their Tangram pieces.
- Ask:
- How many triangles or squares did you use?
- Are there any other shapes?
- How many total pieces make the rocket?
- Create New Shapes (5–10 minutes)
- Let scouts use the same Tangram pieces to invent something new—maybe a robot, a cat, or their own version of an app icon! Celebrate their designs and remind them they’re learning to break things down and rebuild creatively, just like real app developers.
Note to Leaders – You can learn more about decomposition with short video or a mini lesson
The Badge Archive 