Students compare different types of code: symbolic code, pseudocode, block-based code, and text-based code.
Students write code to instruct their classmates to assemble stacks of cups in various configurations. First, they write symbolic code and then move on to pseudocode.
Students are challenged to write loops in pseudocode, and if there is time, they are further challenged to write named functions.
Loops and block-based code will be used in the unit’s final project, and the movement of the cups is similar to how “sprite” objects will move in the programs they will write.

Students will present their Build My City projects to the class, either in the form of a gallery walk in which they browse others’ projects or in formal, one-group-at-a-time “keynote” presentations.
Students will reflect on what they learned about other classmates by viewing their cities.
Objectives

In this unplugged lesson, students will explore the concept of programming. Students watch a video showing a sequence of dance steps, then write instructions to “program” each other to replicate the dance. After learning about the concept of programming, groups will create their own dance move to “program” the class to do.

Students watch a video showing a sequence of dance steps, then write instructions to “program” each other to replicate the dance.
Students run into trouble with the length and repetitiveness of the instructions, so the concept of a “loop” is introduced.
Students redo their instructions using loops, see examples of loops in other programs, and reflect on why programmers use loops. Loops will be a key concept used in the unit’s final project.

Students will explore different ways to program sprites (characters) in their projects. This lesson will focus on how to program keys on the keyboard in order to control the movement of the sprites in their projects.

Students will also dive into how to effectively use the hide, show, and wait blocks when creating an interactive project.

Students will explore different ways to program sprites (characters) in their projects. This lesson will focus on how to program keys on the keyboard in order to control the movement of the sprites in their projects.

Students will also dive into how to effectively use the hide, show, and wait blocks when creating an interactive project.

In this lesson, student teams will explain how they plan on recreating/reverse engineering the Scratch project seen in Lesson 14. The other teams will listen, identifying similarities and differences between the two teams and their own ideas for arriving at a possible solution. Then, students will work in teams to rebuild the project they viewed in the previous lesson.

Students play the boardgame Robot Turtles again, this time focusing on puzzles whose solutions involve lots of repeated steps.
Students create “functions” using sets of cards and use the Function Frog card to call their functions. They consider named functions and name their own functions.
Students reflect on what functions are, why programmers use them, and how functions are different from loops.

Students use the board game Robot Turtles to write code by creating sequences of steps for a character to follow.
They encounter bugs and learn why bugs are important learning opportunities, not mistakes to avoid.
They see and discuss examples of bugs in robots and computers.

Students follow a tutorial to create a Scratch program that uses stamping, colors, loops, and events to create a compelling visual program.
Students experiment with using Scratch’s system of numbered colors and with using the stamp block to stamp images of the sprite on the stage.
Students experience the need for code to initialize their program when it starts, and they will write code to do that.
By the end of the lesson, students will have created an interactive, colorful program that responds to the mouse pointer.
Scratch’s color effects, stamping, and sprite movement will be important in the final coding project at the end of the unit.

Students follow the instructor’s tutorial to make animal sprites move across the screen in wild patterns. This requires using Scratch’s coordinates system to control the x and y coordinates of the sprites.
Students encounter the coordinate plane background, and try out their knowledge by identifying areas of the screen using only coordinate numbers.
Sprite movement using coordinates will be central to the final coding project at the end of the unit.

Students will explore the various types of loops available in Scratch, by creating musical programs.
The instructor presents a Scratch project with examples of short music loop scripts. Students examine the different types of loops used, and then build their own songs using the same kinds of loops and sounds.
Students reflect on why programmers use loops and the benefits they offer.
Loops— particularly nested loops—will be important in their final coding project at the end of the unit.

Students continue working on their cities in their collaborative groups, focusing on using loops and stamping to build buildings.
The class discusses the importance of the cycle of iterative development: testing and revising, testing and revising.
Students end the session by reflecting on what sort of feedback they might like from other groups about their project.

Students respond to their peer feedback, then they work in their collaborative groups to make revisions based on that feedback.
Students ask for help with places where they are stuck or need help debugging.
Students reflect on the finishing touches they want to put on their cities.