Lesson 7: Loops with Harvester
55 minutes
Overview
In this skill-building lesson, students will help the harvester collect crops by using loops.
Purpose
In this lesson, students will be learning more about loops and how to implement them in Blockly code. Using loops is an important skill in programming because manually repeating commands is tedious and inefficient. With the Code.org puzzles, students will learn to add instructions to existing loops, gather repeated code into loops, and recognize patterns that need to be looped.
Standards
AP - Algorithms & Programming
- 1A-AP-09 - Model the way programs store and manipulate data by using numbers or other symbols to represent information.
- 1A-AP-10 - Develop programs with sequences and simple loops, to express ideas or address a problem.
- 1A-AP-11 - Decompose (break down) the steps needed to solve a problem into a precise sequence of instructions.
- 1A-AP-14 - Debug (identify and fix) errors in an algorithm or program that includes sequences and simple loops.
Agenda
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Break down a long sequence of instructions into the smallest repeatable sequence possible.
- Create a program for a given task which loops a sequence of commands.
- Employ a combination of sequential and looped commands to reach the end of a maze.
- Identify the benefits of using a loop structure instead of manual repetition.
Preparation
- Play through the puzzles to find any potential problem areas for your class.
- Review *CS Fundamentals Main Activity Tips - Lesson Recommendations.
- Make sure each student has a reflection journal.
- (Optional) Pick a couple of puzzles to do as a group with your class.
- (Optional) If you haven't already, print and cut out blocks from *Manipulatives to prepare for one of the bridging activities in this lesson.
Links
Heads Up! Please make a copy of any documents you plan to share with students.
For the teachers
- CS Fundamentals Main Activity Tips - Lesson Recommendations
For the students
- Feeling Faces Emotion Image - Resource
- Unplugged Blockly Blocks (Grades K-1) - Manipulatives
Vocabulary
- Loop - The action of doing something over and over again.
- Repeat - To do something again.
Teaching Guide
Warm Up (10 minutes)
Introduction
Review the Getting Loopy activity with your students:
- What are loops?
- Why do we use them?
Bridging Activity - Choose One (10 minutes)
These activities will help bring the unplugged concepts from "Getting Loopy" into the online world that the students are moving into. Choose one of the following to do with your class:
Unplugged Activity Using Paper Blocks
Revisit the dance from "Getting Loopy." This time, work with the class to "code" it out using *manipulatives instead of writing the dance instructions on paper. Make sure the students know that the blocks need to go from top to bottom and that they all need to touch!
-Or-
Previewing Online Puzzles as a Class
Pull up the online puzzles and choose a puzzle to do in front of the class. We recommend puzzle 7. Ask the students to write a program to solve the puzzle on paper. Have the students circle repeated chunks and label with the number of repeats, the same way they did in "Getting Loopy."
Main Activity (30 minutes)
Loops with Harvester
As students work through the puzzles, see if they can figure out how many blocks they use with a loop vs. without a loop.
Wrap Up (5 minutes)
Reflection
Prompts:
- What was today’s lesson about?
- Draw a face that shows how you felt about today's lesson in the corner of your journal page.
- How did loops make your program easier to write?
- Draw something that uses loops.
Extended Learning
Use these activities to enhance student learning. They can be used as outside of class activities or other enrichment.
So Moving
- Give the students pictures of actions or dance moves that they can do.
- Have students arrange moves and add loops to choreograph their own dance.
- Share the dances with the rest of the class.
Connect It Back
- Find some YouTube videos of popular dances that repeat themselves.
- Can your class find the loops?
- Try the same thing with songs!
Cross-Curricular Opportunity
Corn Crazy Choice Board (45-60 minutes)
Computer Science + English Language Arts + Science
Corn Crazy Choice Board is an optional activity aligned to Common Core ELA and Next Generation Science Standards, written by our teacher community. Students will practice their speaking and listening skills as they determine which properties of Harvester’s corn can be used to solve a human problem through biomimicry.
Standards Addressed:
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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1.A: Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).
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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1.B: Build on others' talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others through multiple exchanges.
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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1.C: Ask questions to clear up any confusion about the topics and texts under discussion.
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NGSS.1-LS1-1: Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.
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