Lesson 7: Sprites in Action

Do this: Review or introduce the word algorithm: a list of steps to complete a task.

Display: Show “Follow the Algorithm” slide

Today we’re going to start with a quick game. In this game, I will be giving you all commands to follow and your job is to follow the algorithm. The commands will always start with “begin” or “stop”. If I tell you to begin doing something, you need to start that behavior and keep it going until I tell you to stop. I might also tell you to “stop everything” which means you can end all of the behaviors I’ve given you so far. We’ll play 3 rounds and after each round I’ll ask you all a couple questions.

Be sure to give a little space between commands. For each of these sections, consider running through the entire sequence without any discussion and later repeating it again after everyone has had a chance to debrief and process any confusion.

Display: Show “Round 1 - Basic” slide

Round 1 (Basic):

• Begin marching in place.
• Stop marching in place.
• Begin clapping.
• Stop clapping.
• Begin marching in place.
• Begin clapping.
• Stop everything.

Display: Show “Debrief” slide

Debrief:

• What happened when you were told to clap but you were already marching in place?
• What happens if you are told to begin two different behaviors at once?

Students should understand that multiple behaviors can happen simultaneously.

Display: Show “Round 2 - Intermediate” slide

Round 2 (Intermediate):

• Begin waving your arms in the air.
• Begin bobbing your head.
• Stop waving your arms in the air.
• Stop bobbing your head.
• Begin shaking your knees.
• Begin flapping your arms like a bird.
• Stop shaking your knees.
• Begin bobbing your head.
• Begin marching in place.
• Stop flapping your arms like a bird.
• Stop everything.

Display: Show “Debrief” slide

Debrief:

• What kinds of instructions caused people to make mistakes?
• What strategies do you think are helpful for making sure you follow instructions correctly?
• Why is it important to keep track of each behavior separately?

Students should understand that each behavior needs to be stopped individually. They need to keep track of each one separately.

Display: Show “Round 3 - Challenging” slide

Round 3 (Challenging):

• Begin crouching.
• Begin tapping your head.
• Stop crouching.
• Stop tapping your head.
• Begin jumping up and down.
• Begin tapping your head.
• Stop everything.
• Begin clapping.
• Begin flapping your arms like a bird.
• Stop everything.
• Begin crouching.
• Begin jumping up and down.
• Stop everything.
• Begin tapping your knees.
• Begin tapping your head.
• Stop everything.
• Begin spinning to the left.
• Begin spinning to the right.
• Stop spinning to the left.
• Stop spinning to the right.

Display: Show “Reflect” slide

Reflect: What happens if two behaviors seem to conflict with each other?

Discussion Goal: Students should understand that some behaviors conflict with each other which can result in unexpected outcomes. It’s possible for two opposite behaviors to effectively cancel each other out.

Additional prompts:

• What should you do when told to clap your hands and flap your arms at the same time?

• How can you jump up and down while crouching?

• What happens if you need to tap your knees and your head at the same time?

• When you were told to spin in two opposite directions what did you see people do?

• What would happen if you were told to spin left and right at the exact same time?

Vocabulary

Display: Show “Vocabulary” slide

• Algorithm - A list of steps to complete a task.
• Event - An action that causes something to happen.

Prediction (2 mins)

Display: Show “Level 1 - Predict” slide

Do This: This level should be completed as a class. Have students read the provided code and make a prediction about what will happen. After pressing “Run”, provide time for students to reflect on anything they found interesting or that surprised them.

Video: Sprites in Action (3 mins)

Display: Show “Sprites in Action” video

Display: Show "How do events work?" slide

How do events work?

1. The user presses a key on the keyboard.
2. The keyboard sends a signal to the computer.
3. The computer makes a decision based on the code.
4. The computer updates the display.

Skill Building and Practice (20 mins)

Display: Show “Level 3 - 7 - Skill Building” slide

Transition: Have students move to their computer and sign in. These activities are suitable for independent learning or pair programming.

Students should complete the Skill Building levels and then spend any remaining time choosing from the various Practice activities.

Display: Show “Level 8 - Practice” slide

Free Play (10 mins)

Display: Show “Level 9 - Free Play” slide

Transition: Students should now skip to the final level in the lesson where they will see the same free play choices as the previous lessons. Encourage students to add events to their projects from last time, or begin a new project.

The free play choices in this lesson mirror those from the previous lesson. In fact, any student code from the last lesson will carry over to today. The main difference is that now students have additional blocks in their toolbox which they should use to make their programs more interesting or complex.

Display: Show “Reflect” slide

Reflect: Arrow keys are one way to make a program more interactive.

• What other ways could we give a user control over what happens in an app or game?

Having students write about what they learned, why it’s useful, and how they feel about it can help solidify any knowledge they obtained today and build a review sheet for them to look to in the future.