During summer 2002, we ran a workshop module for a group of 28 eighth-grade girls. Our aim was ambitious: to introduce these students, ages 12 and 13, to computer science by focussing on the deep intellectual topic of self-stabilizing distributed algorithms and by imparting an intuitive appreciation for their use in fault tolerance. At the same time, we hoped to dispel some negative stereotypes of computer science. The module was a success according to evaluations and comments from the participants. This paper describes the sequence of exercises we developed as an elementary-level introduction to the graduate-level topics of fault tolerance and self-stabilization. We report them with the hope that others will try them in college classrooms, as we plan to do.
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