Today we started our science unit on coding. We are following Code.org Course D curriculum. We did a fun "unplugged" activity. Unplugged means, we didn't use any technology. By "programming" one another to draw pictures, students got an opportunity to experience some of the core concepts of programming in a fun and accessible way. The class started by having students use commands to instruct each other to color squares on graph paper in an effort to reproduce an existing picture. Later they determined that using symbols are a faster way to do the same thing: By introducing basic concepts like sequencing and algorithms to the class in an unplugged activity, students who are intimidated by computers can still build a foundation of understanding on these topics. In this lesson, students will learn how to develop an algorithm and encode it into a program. | We watched this video to give students context for the types of things that robots can do: Vocabulary Algorithm - A list of steps to finish a task. Program - An algorithm that has been coded into something that can be run by a machine. |
Here's an example of how the activity works. One student (the programmer) would look at a picture and write the "code" to instruct their partner (the robot) to color squares on graph paper in an effort to reproduce it. Once the code is completed, the partner (robot) would take the code and try and reproduce the image. If the two images don't match, then they would debug the code and see where things went wrong.