Computational Science in High Schools: Defining Curricula and Environments

The paper presents a new approach for the introduction of computational science into high level school curricula. It also discusses a set of real life problems that are appropriate for these curricula because they can be described through simple models. The computer based simulation of these systems require an ad hoc environment, including a programming language, suitable for this target age. The paper proposes a new environment, the ORESPICS environment, including a new programming language. The sequential part of the language integrates the classical imperative constructs with a simple set of graphical primitives, mostly taken from the LOGO language. The concurrent part of the language is based on the message passing paradigm. The solutions of some classical problems through ORESPICS are shown.