LESSON 2 Program your Robot
Goal: To sequence instructions into simple algorithms and to gain a basic understanding of what defines an algorithm. Step 1 - Students will work in partner pairs. A Find a semi-clear area for students to move around. B Have students choose which one will be A and B. C Tell them that partner A is the programmer and partner B is the robot. D Explain that there are four basic moves - Left, Right, Forward, and Back (L, R, F, B). Turns are 90 degrees, each step begins with 2 feet together and ends with two feet together. (You may want to demonstrate the moves) E Have each partner A choose a start position and targeted finish point for partner B. The positions may be close together or far apart. Groups may add obstacles, but safety should be first concern. F Instruct each partner A to write down a sequence for their partner B to follow. Remind students that the robots (partner B) can’t move until given a (paper) program created by partner A, the programmer. G For each partner B that doe not reach their destination, have their partner A go back & debug or change the program for the robot to reach the intended destination. This lesson can evolve to include other symbols (code) for things like opening doors, or sitting on a chair or dropping items. . Step 2 - Students will create a poster using Softprint. A Have students open Softprint on their computers. B Ask them to use the word "Algorithm" as their header. C Then, on Line 1, have them type the definition of an algorithm. D Next, have students type their algorithm on line 2. E Have students copy and paste the coding website address onto the web address line. F Instead of printing their posters, have students take a screen capture of their posters and save them as "poster" to their Google folders. |
Student Work Samples |
Instructional Resources
Student Reflection Notes
Sequences are the order that commands are executed by the computer which allows us to carry out tasks that have multiple steps. In programming, computers can only carry out tasks that are in the correct order. Sequencing can be seen as the most foundational step in programming as everything else builds off of this concept. Remember from lesson 1 that a series of instructions can also be referred to as an algorithm. Therefore, an algorithm is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task. |