Below are examples of how to related Computer Science to other high school disciplines.
Biology: Relate the concept of inheritance to taxonomic classifications of living organisms.
For example, all species under the phylum Chordata inherit the characteristics associated with it.
Similarly, actions or characteristics that apply generally to a class also apply specifically to subclasses.
For example, the action lactate is generally applicable to any mammal. Therefore, cat, wooly mammoth, and human all inherit this ability.
For example, the characteristic furriness is generally associated with any mammal. Therefore, cat, wooly mammoth, and human all inherit this characteristic (to varying degrees).
English/Language Arts: Relate the concept of parameters in functions/methods to parts of speech.
For example, when considering a Object Oriented Programming (OOP) method, the object is similar in function to the subject, the method to the verb, and an actual parameter is much like a direct object.
It may benefit students to translate between declarative sentences and method applications, labelling each of the constituent parts.
Another example, considering methods as transitive or intransitive verbs.
A method header with formal parameters is akin to a transitive verb, the method must act upon another object.
Defining the specific class of the formal parameter parallels how some of these verbs work in English, e.g., break typically requires the direct object to be a solid, physical object.
A method header with no formal parameters is akin to an intransitive verb, e.g. sneeze.
Overloading: Some verbs are both transitive and intransitive depending on context, e.g., "John walked." vs. "John walked the dog." These are (correct) differently defined actions.
Philosophy: Class definitions vs. object instances as Platonic forms.
An interpretation of Platonic forms suggests that there are many tables in the world (instances), but these are all defined in their adherence to the essence of "tableness" (class definitions).
- Socrates posited that we reason about the world in relation to these forms rather than specific instances.