Express Course (2021)

Learn computer science by trying the lessons below at your own pace! Learn to create computer

programs, develop problem-solving skills, and work through fun challenges! Make games and creative

projects to share with friends, family, and teachers.

 Teacher resources ⎙ Printing Options

Active section:

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 Sequencing

 Lesson 1: Programming with Angry Birds

In this skill-building lesson, students will develop sequential algorithms to move a bird

from one side of a maze to the pig on the other side. To do this, they will stack code blocks

together in a linear sequence, making them move straight, turn left, or turn right.

 1 Video: Maze Intro - Programming with Blocks

 2-7 Skill Building

2 3 4 5 6 7

 8 Challenge

 9 Practice

 10 Prediction

 11 Practice

 12-13 Challenge

12 13

 Lesson 2: Debugging in Maze

In this skill-building lesson, students will encounter pre-written code that contains mistakes.

They will need to step through the existing code to identify errors.
  1 Video: Debugging with Scrat

 2-7 Skill Building

2 3 4 5 6 7

 8 Challenge

 9 Prediction

 10 Practice

 Lesson 3: Collecting Treasure with Laurel

In this skill-building lesson, students will continue to develop their understanding of

algorithms and debugging. With a new character, Laurel the Adventurer, students will

create sequential algorithms to get Laurel to pick up treasure as she walks along a path.

 1 Video: The Collector

 2-7 Skill Building

2 3 4 5 6 7

 8 Challenge

 9-11 Practice

9 10 11

 12 Prediction

 13 Practice

 Lesson 4: Creating Art with Code

In this skill-building lesson, students will take control of the Artist to complete drawings on

the screen.

 1 Video: Artist Intro with JR Hildebrand

  2-7 Skill Building

2 3 4 5 6 7

 8 Challenge

 9 Practice

 10 Prediction

 Sprites

 Lesson 5: Swimming Fish in Sprite Lab

Students will program a simple animated underwater scene in this skill-building lesson.

 1 Video: Introducing Sprite Lab

 2 Prediction

 3-5 Skill Building

3 4 5

 6 Video: How to Make a Sprite

 7-8 Practice

7 8

 9 Free Play

 Lesson 6: Making Sprites

In this skill-building lesson, students will work through a series of programming levels on

the computer, finishing with an open-ended “free play ” task where they can build

whatever they like. Students will write programs and learn about the two concepts at the

heart of Sprite Lab: sprites and behaviors.

  1 Prediction

 2 Video: How to Make a Sprite

 3-7 Skill Building

3 4 5 6 7

 8-11 Practice

8 9 10 11

 12 Free Play: Make a Scene

 Events

 Lesson 7: Sprites in Action

In this skill-building lesson, students will work through a series of programming levels on

the computer, finishing with an open-ended “free play ” task where they can build

whatever they like. Students will write programs that respond to timed events and user

input.

 1 Prediction

 2 Video: Sprites in Action

 3-7 Skill Building

3 4 5 6 7

 8-13 Practice

8 9 10 11 12 13

 14 Free Play: Make an Interactive Scene

 Lesson 8: Virtual Pet with Sprite Lab

Students will create an interactive Virtual Pet that looks and behaves how they wish in this

mini-project lesson. Students will use Sprite Lab's "Costumes" tool to customize their pet's

appearance. They will then use events, behaviors, and other concepts they have learned to

bring their project to life.

 1 Exploration

 2-6 Mini-Project: Create a Virtual Pet

2 3 4 5 6

 7 Free Play

 Lesson 9: Dance Party

In this skill-building lesson, students will program an interactive dance party.

 1 Video: Dance Party Warm Up

 2 Practice

 3 Video: Dance Party Events

 4-5 Events

4 5

 6 Video: Dance Party Measures

 7-9 Measures

7 8 9

 10 Video: Dance Party Properties

 11-13 Properties

11 12 13

 14 Video: Dance Party Party On!

  15 Free Play

 Loops

 Lesson 10: Loops with Rey and BB-8

This skill-building lesson has students using loops to help the Star Wars character BB-8

efficiently traverse a maze.

 1 Video: Programming with Rey and BB-8

 2 Practice

 3 Prediction

 4 Video: Repeat Blocks with BB-8

 5-9 Skill Building

5 6 7 8 9

 10 Challenge

 11-12 Practice

11 12

 13 Prediction

 14 Practice

 Lesson 11: Mini-Project: Sticker Art

This mini-project lesson builds on the understanding of loops. Students will create unique

artwork with the Artist.

  1-8 Mini-project: Sticker Design

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

 9 Free Play

 Lesson 12: Nested Loops in Maze

In this skill-building lesson, students will learn how to program a loop inside of another

loop.

 1-2 Practice

1 2

 3 Video: Nested Loops with the Bee

 4 Prediction

 5-9 Practice

5 6 7 8 9

 10 Challenge

 11-12 Practice

11 12

 13 Prediction

 Lesson 13: Snowflakes with Anna and Elsa

This mini-project lesson takes students through a series of exercises to create snowflake

images using characters from the Frozen movies.

 1-4 Skill Building

1 2 3 4
  5-6 Practice

5 6

 Conditionals

 Lesson 14: Looking Ahead with Minecraft

This skill-building lesson gives students the chance to practice concepts that they have

learned up to this point and get their first experience with conditionals!

 1-10 Skill Building

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

 11-13 Challenge

11 12 13

 14 Free Play

 Lesson 15: If/Else with Bee

In this skill-building lesson, your class will continue to code with conditionals, allowing them

to write code that functions differently depending on the specific conditions the program

encounters.

 1 Video: Conditionals: If Statements

 2 Prediction

 3-7 Skill Building

3 4 5 6 7

 8 Video: Conditionals: If and If/Else Statements

 9 Skill Building
  10 Prediction

 11 Challenge

 12-13 Practice

12 13

 Lesson 16: While Loops in Farmer

In this skill-building lesson, students will be working to fill holes and dig dirt in Farmer, but

they will not know the size of the holes or the height of the mounds of dirt. To solve these

puzzles, students will use a new kind of loop.

 1-3 Skill Building

1 2 3

 4 Video: While Loops with the Farmer

 5 Prediction

 6-9 Skill Building

6 7 8 9

 10 Challenge

 11-12 Practice

11 12

 13 Prediction

 Lesson 17: Conditionals in Minecraft: Voyage Aquatic

In this context-setting lesson, students will get the chance to practice content that they

have learned up to this point, as well as getting a sneak peek at conditionals!

 1 Video: Minecraft: Voyage Aquatic Introduction

  2-4 Skill Building

2 3 4

 5 Video: Minecraft: Voyage Aquatic Repeat Until

 6-8 Skill Building

6 7 8

 9 Video: Minecraft: Voyage Aquatic Conditionals

 10-14 Skill Building

10 11 12 13 14

 15 Video: Minecraft: Voyage Aquatic Congratulations

 16 Free Play

 Lesson 18: Until Loops in Maze

In this skill-building lesson, students will learn about until loops. Students will build

programs that have the main character repeat actions until they reach their desired

stopping point.

 1 Skill Building

 2 Video: Repeat Until Statements

 3 Prediction

 4-8 Skill Building

4 5 6 7 8

 9 Challenge

 10 Practice

 11 Prediction
  Lesson 19: Harvesting with Conditionals

Students will practice while loops, until loops, and if / else statements. All of these blocks

use conditionals. By practicing all three, students will learn to write complex and flexible

code.

 1 Video: Harvesting with Conditionals

 2-5 Skill Building

2 3 4 5

 6-7 Practice

6 7

 8 Challenge

 9-10 Practice

9 10

 11 Prediction

 Functions

 Lesson 20: Functions in Minecraft

In this skill-building lesson, students will begin to understand how functions can be helpful!

 1 Video: Minecraft - The Agent

 2-3 Skill Building

2 3

 4 Video: Minecraft - Repeat Loops

  5-9 Skill Building

5 6 7 8 9

 10 Video: Minecraft - Functions

 11-14 Skill Building

11 12 13 14

 15 Video: Minecraft - Congratulations

 16 Free Play

 Lesson 21: Functions with Artist

In this skill-building lesson, students will use functions with the Artist.

 1 Prediction

 2-9 Practice

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

 10 Challenge

 11 Practice

 12 Prediction

 13 Free Play

 Lesson 22: Functions with Harvester

In this skill-building lesson, students will use conditionals with functions to harvest crops in

Harvester.

 1-6 Practice
 1 2 3 4 5 6

 7 Video: How to Create a Simple Function

 8-10 Practice

8 9 10

 11 Challenge

 12 Practice

 13 Prediction

 Variables

 Lesson 23: Text and Prompts

In this skill-building lesson, students will get practice with variables in Sprite Lab.

 1 Prediction

 2 Video: Text and Prompts

 3-8 Skill Building

3 4 5 6 7 8

 9-15 Practice

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

 Lesson 24: Using Variables with the Artist

In this skill-building lesson, students will explore the creation of repetitive designs using

variables in the Artist environment. Students will learn how variables make code easier to

write and easier to read. After guided puzzles, students will end in a free play level to show

what they have learned and create new designs.

  1 Prediction

 2 Video: Variables in Artist

 3-6 Skill Building

3 4 5 6

 7 Free Play

 Lesson 25: Variables with the Bee

This skill-building lesson will help illustrate how variables can make programs more

dynamic by allowing values to change while the code is running.

 1-7 Skill Building

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

 8-10 Practice

8 9 10

 For Loops

 Lesson 26: For Loops with Bee

This skill-building lesson focuses on for loops and using an incrementing variable to solve

more complicated puzzles.

 1-2 Review

1 2

 3 Exploration: For Loops

 4 Video: For Loops

  5 Prediction

 6-8 Skill Building

6 7 8

 9-13 Practice

9 10 11 12 13

 Lesson 27: For Loops with Artist

In this skill-building lesson, students practice “for” loops with Artist. Students will complete

puzzles to create complex designs and unique art.

 1 Video: For Loops

 2 Exploration

 3-7 Skill Building

3 4 5 6 7

 8 Free Play

 End of Course Project

 Lesson 28: End of Course Project

This project lesson takes students through the process of designing, developing, and

showcasing new projects!

 1 Example Projects

 2 Create your project

Lesson 1: Programming with Angry Birds

38 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this skill-building lesson, students will develop Students will be able to:
sequential algorithms to move a bird from one side of a
Identify and locate bugs in a
maze to the pig on the other side. To do this, they will

stack code blocks together in a linear sequence, making program.

them move straight, turn left, or turn right. Translate movements into a series

of commands.

Purpose
Preparation
In this lesson, students will develop programming skills on

a computer platform. The block-based format of these Play through the puzzles to find
puzzles help students learn about sequence and
any potential problem areas for
concepts, without having to worry about perfecting
your class.
syntax.
(Optional) Pick a couple of

puzzles to do as a group with

your class.
Full Course Alignment
Standards Make sure every student has a

reflection journal.
CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)

AP - Algorithms & Programming

Links

Agenda
Heads Up! Please make a copy of

Warm Up (3 minutes) any documents you plan to share

Introduction with students.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

For the students
Programming with Angry Birds

Unplugged Maze Blocks -

Wrap Up (5 minutes)
Resource  Make a Copy
Reflection

Extended Learning Vocabulary

Cross-Curricular Opportunity Algorithm - A list of steps to finish

a task.

Bug - Part of a program that does

not work correctly.

Debugging - Finding and fixing

problems in an algorithm or

program.

Sequencing - Putting commands

in correct order so computers can

read the commands.

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (3 minutes)

Introduction

Model: Pull up Puzzle 5 to do in front of the class. While working through this puzzle with the class,

remind students that making mistakes is okay and remind them that the only way to be successful is to

be persistent. Discuss what to do when a program doesn't work (debug it!) or how to get through the

frustration that can come with working on a computer.

Next, you'll need to describe how the blocks in the workspace move the bird toward the pig. Show

students how to drag blocks from the toolbox and connect them beneath the when run block, but

don't solve the puzzle.

Discuss: Think about how we would get the bird to the pig using arrows. How do we use these blocks

instead?

Have students use their fingers to point the direction that the bird should go next. Once you feel like

you have a classroom consensus, try to get students to put into words which block will make that action

happen. Roll your mouse over different options and have them shout "Yes" or "No".

Drag blocks into place one at a time, then click "Run" after each one. This will not only let them see how

far the bird has gone, but set good habits for when they start working to solve their own puzzles.

Continue this pattern, fixing bugs as they arise, until the bird successfully gets to the pig.

Additional Demonstration

We've included some multiple choice prediction levels. These could be used after finishing the Warm

Up.

Prediction Levels:

Programming in Maze #1

Programming in Maze #2

Transition: Now that students have seen an online puzzle in practice, they should be ready to start

solving puzzles of their own. Continue to the lab or bring out their classroom computers.

 Teaching Tip 

Some students may struggle with turning their bird in the correct direction, particularly when the

bird isn't facing up. Remind students that when we say turn left or right, we're giving directions from

the bird's point of view.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Programming with Angry Birds

 1 Video: Maze Intro - Programming with Blocks

  Teaching Tip 

Show the students the right way to help classmates by: Don't sit in their chair Don't use their

keyboard Don't touch their mouse Make sure the classmate can describe the solution before you

walk away

 2-7 Skill Building

2 3 4 5 6 7

 8 Challenge

 9 Practice

 10 Prediction

 11 Practice

 12-13 Challenge

12 13

Circulate: Teachers play a vital role in computer science education and supporting a collaborative and

vibrant classroom environment. During online activities, the role of the teacher is primarily one of

encouragement and support. Online lessons are meant to be student-centered, so teachers should

avoid stepping in when students get stuck. Some ideas on how to do this are:

Utilize Pair Programming whenever possible during the activity.

Encourage students with questions/challenges to start by asking their partner.

Unanswered questions can be escalated to a nearby group, who might already know the solution.

Have students describe the problem that they ’re seeing. What is it supposed to do? What does it

do? What does that tell you?

Remind frustrated students that frustration is a step on the path to learning, and that persistence

will pay off.

If a student is still stuck after all of this, ask leading questions to get the student to spot an error on

their own.

Discuss: After providing students with end-of-class warnings, grab everyone's attention and get them

to reflect on the experiences that they just had.

Did anyone feel frustrated during any of the puzzles?

Did anyone notice the need to be persistent?

Transition: Have students grab their *Thinkspot Journals and take a moment to reflect on the

experience for themselves.

Wrap Up (5 minutes)

Reflection

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. When completed, this can be used as a review sheet for

them to look at in the future.

Prompts:

What was today ’s lesson about?

How did you feel during today ’s lesson?

Draw an activity you like to do that you struggled with the first time. Draw or describe how you got

better.

Extended Learning

Use these activities to enhance student learning. They can be used as outside of class activities or other

enrichment.

Create Your Own

In small groups, let students design their own mazes and challenge each other to write programs to

solve them. For added fun, make life-size mazes with students as the pig and bird.

Cross-Curricular Opportunity

Bugs, Bugs & More Bugs (45-60 minutes)

Computer Science + English Language Arts + Math

Bugs, Bugs & More Bugs is an optional activity aligned to Common Core ELA and Math standards,

written by our teacher community. Students will practice debugging as they fix code, correct a math

problem and proofread writing samples.

Standards Addressed:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.1.B: Form and use frequently occurring irregular plural nouns (e.g., feet,

children, teeth, mice, fish).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.2.A: Capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic names.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.2.C: Use an apostrophe to form contractions and frequently occurring

possessives.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.OA.B.2: Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.NBT.A.4: Compare two three-digit numbers based on meanings of the

hundreds, tens, and ones digits, using >, =, and < symbols to record the results of comparisons.
 This work is available under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

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Lesson 2: Debugging in Maze

50 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this skill-building lesson, students will encounter pre- Students will be able to:
written code that contains mistakes. They will need to
Modify an existing program to
step through the existing code to identify errors.
solve errors.

Predict where a program will fail.

Purpose Reflect on the debugging process

in an age-appropriate way.
Students in your class might become frustrated with this

lesson because of the essence of debugging. Debugging

is a concept that is very important to computer

Preparation
programming. Computer scientists have to get really

good at finding the bugs in their own programs.

Play through the lesson to find
Debugging forces the students to recognize problems
any potential problem areas for
and overcome them while building critical thinking and
your class.
problem solving skills.
(Optional) Pick a couple of

puzzles to do as a group with

Full Course Alignment your class.

Standards
Make sure every student has a

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017) Reflection Journal.

AP - Algorithms & Programming

Links

Agenda
Heads Up! Please make a copy of

Warm Up (15 minutes) any documents you plan to share

Introduction with students.

Vocabulary

For the students

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Debugging with Scrat Pair Programming - Video

Wrap Up (5 minutes)
Vocabulary
Reflection

Bug - Part of a program that does

Extended Learning
not work correctly.

Debugging - Finding and fixing

problems in an algorithm or

program.

Teaching Guide
Warm Up (15 minutes)

Introduction

Ask students to think about problems they have to solve in everyday life.

How do you fix something that isn't working?

Do you follow a specific series of steps?

The puzzles in this unit have already been solved for you (yay!), but they don't seem to be working

(boo!)

We call the problems in these programs "bugs," and it will be your job to "debug" them.

Vocabulary

This lesson has three new and important vocabulary words:

Bug - Say it with me - Buhh-g.

Something that is going wrong. An error.

Debugging - Say it with me: Dee-bug-ing.

To find and fix errors.

Persistence - Say it with me: Purr-siss-tense.

Not giving up. Persistence works best when you try things many different ways, many different times.

Say: Debugging is a process. First, you must recognize that there is an error in your program. You then

work through the program step by step to find the error. Try the first step, did it work? Then the second,

how about now? If you make sure that everything is working line by line, then when you get to the place

that your code isn't doing what it's supposed to, you know that you've found a bug. Once you've

discovered your bug, you can work to fix (or "debug") it!

If you think it will build excitement in the class you can introduce the character of today's puzzles, Scrat

from Ice Age. If students aren't familiar with Scrat, show some clips of the quirky squirrel running into

trouble.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Debugging with Scrat

Before letting the students start on the computer, remind them of the advantages of *Pair-
Programming-video and asking their peers for help. Sit students in pairs and recommend they ask at

least two peers for help before they come to a teacher.

As mentioned in the purpose of this lesson, make sure the students are aware that they will face

frustrating puzzles. Tell them it is okay to feel frustrated, but it is important to work through the problem

and ask for help. As the students work through the puzzles, walk around to make sure no student is

feeling so stuck that they aren't willing to continue anymore.

 1 Video: Debugging with Scrat

  2-7 Skill Building

2 3 4 5 6 7

 8 Challenge

 9 Prediction

 10 Practice

 11-12 Lesson Extras

 

Wrap Up (5 minutes)

Reflection

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.

Prompts:

What was today ’s lesson about?

How did you feel during today ’s lesson?

What kind of bugs did you find today?

Draw a bug you encountered in one of the puzzles today. What did you do to "debug" the

program?

Extended Learning

Use these activities to enhance student learning. They can be used as outside of class activities or other

enrichment.

Planting bugs

Have students go back through previous levels, purposefully adding bugs to their solutions. They can

then ask other students to debug their work. This can also be done with paper puzzles.

When other students are debugging, make sure that the criticisms are constructive. If this could be a

problem for your class, go over respectful debugging before this activity by role playing with another

student.
 This work is available under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

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Lesson 3: Collecting Treasure with

Laurel

50 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this skill-building lesson, students will continue to Students will be able to:
develop their understanding of algorithms and
Develop problem solving and
debugging. With a new character, Laurel the Adventurer,

students will create sequential algorithms to get Laurel to critical thinking skills by reviewing

pick up treasure as she walks along a path. debugging practices.

Order movement commands as

sequential steps in a program.

Purpose Represent an algorithm as a

computer program.
In this lesson, students will be practicing their

programming skills using a new character, Laurel the

Adventurer. When someone starts programming they

piece together instructions in a specific order using

Preparation
something that a machine can read. Through the use of
Play through the puzzles to find
programming, students will develop an understanding of
potential problem areas for your
how a computer navigates instructions and order. Using a
class.
new character with a different puzzle objective will help

students widen their scope of experience with Make sure every student has a

sequencing and algorithms in programming. Reflection Journal.

Full Course Alignment Links

Standards

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017) Heads Up! Please make a copy of

AP - Algorithms & Programming any documents you plan to share

with students.

Agenda For the students

Warm Up (5 minutes) Unplugged Blocks (Courses C-F)

Introduction  Make a Copy

Bridging Activity (10 minutes)

Vocabulary
Previewing Online Puzzles as a Class

Algorithm - A list of steps to finish

Main Activity (30 minutes)
a task.
Collecting Treasure with Laurel
Program - An algorithm that has

Wrap Up (5 minutes) been coded into something that

Reflection can be run by a machine.

Programming - The art of

creating a program.
Teaching Guide

Warm Up (5 minutes)

Introduction

This lesson uses most of the same blocks from the previous lessons and adds the ability to collect . Tell

the students that this block will allow Laurel the Adventurer to pick up the treasure that she is standing

over. This new block will be discussed more in the bridging activity.

Bridging Activity (10 minutes)

Previewing Online Puzzles as a Class

Pull a puzzle from the corresponding online stage. We recommend puzzle 7. Have students discuss a

pattern that they think will get Laurel the Adventurer to collect all the treasure. Ask the students to

share. See how many other students had the same answer!

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Collecting Treasure with Laurel

Laurel the Adventurer is looking to collect as much treasure as she can. Instruct the students to traverse

the puzzle to collect whatever they can. Some levels will require you to only pick up one piece of

treasure, but others will require you to pick up every piece of treasure. Pay attention to the instructions

to know what to do!

 1 Video: The Collector

 2-7 Skill Building

2 3 4 5 6 7

 8 Challenge

 9-11 Practice

9 10 11
  12 Prediction

 13 Practice

 14-15 Lesson Extras

 

Wrap Up (5 minutes)

Reflection

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.

Prompts:

What was today ’s lesson about?

How did you feel during today ’s lesson?

Draw a maze that you might solve with the blocks you used today.

This work is available under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

If you are interested in licensing Code.org materials for commercial purposes contact us.
Lesson 4: Creating Art with Code

50 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this skill-building lesson, students will take control of Students will be able to:
the Artist to complete drawings on the screen.
Break complex shapes into simple

parts.

Purpose Create a program to complete an

image using sequential steps.

Building off of the students' previous experience with

sequencing, this lesson will work to inspire more creativity

with coding. The purpose of this lesson is to solidify

Preparation
knowledge on sequencing by introducing new blocks and

goals. In this case, students learn more about pixels and Play through the puzzles to find
angles using the new blocks, while still practicing their
any potential problem areas for
sequencing skills. Also, students will be able to visualize
your class.
new goals such as coding the Artist to draw a square.
(Optional) Obtain protractors for

your class to visualize the angles

they must use to complete the

Full Course Alignment
Standards puzzles.

Print one *Student Handout for

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)

each student.
AP - Algorithms & Programming

Links
Agenda

Warm Up (10 minutes) Heads Up! Please make a copy of

Introduction any documents you plan to share

with students.
Main Activity (30 minutes)

Creating Art with Code

For the students

Wrap Up (10 minutes)

Artist Introduction - Video
Reflection
Turns & Angles - Video

Extended Learning Turns & Angles - Handout

 Make a Copy
Cross-Curricular Opportunity

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (10 minutes)

Introduction
Show the students one or both of the following videos as an introduction to angles:

*Artist Introduction (1.5 minutes long)

*Turns & Angles (2 minutes long)

Use *Student Handout to show the students interior versus exterior angles for different shapes. This

document can be used as a hand out or you can choose to print it out as a poster for students to refer

to.

Discuss the square and triangle shapes from the document.

How would you code a computer to draw that shape?

What order do the instructions need to be in?

Tell the students that in these puzzles they will be moving a character who leaves a line everywhere he

goes. The students will be writing code that gets the character to draw various shapes, including a

square.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Creating Art with Code

In this set of puzzles, the artist will no longer be constrained to 90 degree angles. Having physical

protractors available can help students better visualize the angles they need. Otherwise, the stage

provides images of the angles as the student selects which angle to use. (Please note: Angle choices are

limited to two inside of the dropdown menu, reducing the number of options students have to work

through.)

Before sending the students to the computers to work on the puzzles, it might be beneficial to give a

brief presentation of how to use the tools in this level. We recommend puzzle 5 as a good puzzle to

show how to use the protractor online.

 1 Video: Artist Intro with JR Hildebrand

 2-7 Skill Building

2 3 4 5 6 7

 8 Challenge

 Teaching Tip 

The eighth puzzle asks the students to draw a 6 sided polygon. This might be challenging for some

students. We recommend getting the students to try a few times, ask a peer, then ask the teacher

for help. Below is an image that might be helpful for the students.
  9 Practice

 10 Prediction

 11-12 Lesson Extras

 

Wrap Up (10 minutes)

Reflection

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.

Prompts:

What was today ’s lesson about?

How did you feel during today ’s lesson?

What are the interior angles that make up a square. What about for a triangle?

Sketch a simple shape on your paper and imagine the code used to draw it. Can you write that

code out next to the shape?

Extended Learning

Use this activity to enhance student learning. It can be used as an outside of class activity or other

enrichment.

The Copy Machine

Give students two pieces of paper

On one sheet draw a simple image, using straight lines only.

On the second sheet draw instructions for recreating that image commands to move straight and

turn at various angles.

Trade instruction sheets and attempt to recreate the image using only the provided instructions.
Cross-Curricular Opportunity

Shapes & Landscapes (45-60 minutes)

Computer Science + English Language Arts + Math + Science

Shapes & Landscapes is an optional activity aligned to Common Core ELA, Common Core Math and

Next Generation Science Standards, written by our teacher community. Students are asked to design a

dam to prevent future flooding. Using code, you will create a blueprint to show the local town council

how your dam will look.

Standards Addressed:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.8: Recall information from experiences or gather information from

provided sources to answer a question.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.A.3: Estimate lengths using units of inches, feet, centimeters, and

meters.

NGSS.2-ESS2-1: Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from

changing the shape of the land.

This work is available under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

If you are interested in licensing Code.org materials for commercial purposes contact us.
Lesson 5: Swimming Fish in Sprite Lab

45 minutes

Overview Objectives

Students will program a simple animated underwater Students will be able to:
scene in this skill-building lesson.
Create new sprites and assign

them costumes and behaviors.

Purpose Define “sprite ” as a character or

object on the screen that can be

This lesson is designed to introduce students to the core
moved and changed.
vocabulary of Sprite Lab, and allow them to apply

concepts they learned in other environments to this tool.

By creating a fish tank, students will begin to form an

Preparation
understanding of the programming model of this tool,

and explore ways they can use it to express themselves.

Play through the puzzles to find

any potential problem areas for

your class.
Full Course Alignment
Standards Make sure every student has a

Reflection Journal.
CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)

AP - Algorithms & Programming

Links

Agenda
Heads Up! Please make a copy of

any documents you plan to share

Warm Up (10 minutes)
with students.
Introduction

Main Activity (20 minutes)

For the teachers
Swimming Fish with Sprite Lab
Sprite Lab Documentation -
Wrap Up (15 minutes)
Resource
Reflection
Swimming Fish Teacher Sandbox

Vocabulary

Behavior - An action that a sprite

performs continuously until it’s

told to stop.

Sprite - A graphic on the screen

with a location, size, and

appearance.

Teaching Guide
Warm Up (10 minutes)

Introduction

Today students will learn how to work with sprites in Sprite Lab.

Display: Pull up a previous puzzle from Code.org, ideally one containing a "main character" like Scrat

from Ice Age or one of the Angry Birds.

Discuss: Let the students know that this character on the screen is a sprite. It is a graphic that is

controlled by a program. In this lesson, students will have the opportunity to choose their own sprites to

control.

This demonstration and discussion can help students move into the Sprite Lab environment.

Swimming Fish Teacher Sandbox

Using a projector, show the sandbox level to your students. The goal is to show them some of the

unique ways that Sprite Lab works. Model writing a few programs and ask students to share their

observations.

What blocks would we need to connect to make the tumbleweed spin?

What would happen if we told the sprite to begin two behaviors at once?

Will the sprite ever stop these behaviors on its own?

If we want the sprite to stop a behavior when we click it, how might we do that?

Before heading into the Main Activity, introduce or review today's lesson vocabulary.

 Content Corner 

Sprite Lab works differently in some ways from the other online tools in the course. Most importantly,

all code runs in order and immediately unless attached to an event block. Telling a sprite to begin

and start the same behavior won't result in any observable effect because there is no time between

each action.

Main Activity (20 minutes)

Swimming Fish with Sprite Lab

Goal: Today, students will be programming their own Fish Tank. They ’ll begin by learning how to put

some sprites on the screen, then they will make them move. Finally, they ’ll customize their fish tank to

add whatever creatures and objects they want.

Transition: Move students to their computers. Encourage students to follow the instructions for each

puzzle. Help them realize that this is a creative activity, intended to help them learn Sprite Lab. It is not

an assessment activity of any sort.

 Teaching Tip 

Encourage students with questions/challenges to start by asking their partner. Unanswered

questions can be escalated to a nearby group, who might already know the solution. Have students

describe the problem that they ’re seeing:

What is it supposed to do?

What does it do?

What does that tell you?

  1 Video: Introducing Sprite Lab

 2 Prediction

 3-5 Skill Building

3 4 5

 6 Video: How to Make a Sprite

 7-8 Practice

7 8

 9 Free Play

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

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.

Prompts:

What was today's lesson about?

How do you feel about today's lesson?

How did it feel to make a scene that was more creative?

Was it difficult to finish a lesson where there was no clear "right" and "wrong"?

This work is available under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

If you are interested in licensing Code.org materials for commercial purposes contact us.
Lesson 6: Making Sprites

50 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this skill-building lesson, students will work through a Students will be able to:
series of programming levels on the computer, finishing
Create an animation using sprites,
with an open-ended “free play ” task where they can

build whatever they like. Students will write programs and behaviors.

and learn about the two concepts at the heart of Sprite Create new sprites and assign

Lab: sprites and behaviors. them costumes and behaviors.

Purpose Preparation

This lesson is designed to introduce students to Play through the levels and review

programming in Sprite Lab. Students will begin to form the *lesson slides.

an understanding of the programming model of this tool,

and explore ways they can use it to express themselves.

Links

Full Course Alignment

Standards Heads Up! Please make a copy of

any documents you plan to share

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)
with students.

AP - Algorithms & Programming

For the teachers

Agenda Making Sprites - Slides

 Make a Copy

Warm Up (10 minutes)

Sprite Lab Documentation -
Introduction
Resource

Main Activity (35 minutes)

Making Sprites
Vocabulary

Algorithm - A list of steps to finish

Wrap Up (5 minutes)

a task.
Reflection

Behavior - An action that a sprite

performs continuously until it’s

told to stop.

Program - An algorithm that has

been coded into something that

can be run by a machine.

Sprite - A graphic on the screen

with a location, size, and

appearance.

Teaching Guide
Warm Up (10 minutes)

Introduction

Instructions for a Scene

 Remarks
Last time, we explored apps and games created with Sprite Lab. Today we are going to begin writing

our own code to create simple sprite animations.

Do this: Using the lesson warm up slides, or this sample project, show students the animation of the ant

and dragonfly.

Discuss: How would you describe this sprite scene? If you wanted someone to create this scene for you

on a computer, what instructions would they need?

Discussion goal: Students should identify both sprites in this project, describe their behaviors

(movements), and also notice the background. Give students time to brainstorm ideas. If they aren’t

sure what to say, clarify that you are just asking them to state observations about what they see.

Next, show the actual code used for this project and invite students to attempt to read through it.

Reflect: What is the same or different about our instructions and this code?

Main Activity (35 minutes)

Making Sprites

Prediction (3 mins)

Do This: 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.

 1 Prediction

 Teaching Tip 

In prediction puzzles students are asked to read a provided program and answer a question about

it. The question must be answered before the student may press the “Run” button. While it is

possible to use these questions as a form of assessment, keep in mind that they are often placed at

the start of a lesson as a way to get students questioning things before they are even formally

shown how something new works.

Do This: Play the video, “How to Make a Sprite ”

 2 Video: How to Make a Sprite

Skill Building and Practice (20 mins)

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.

 3-7 Skill Building

3 4 5 6 7

 8-11 Practice

8 9 10 11

Free Play (10 mins)

Transition: Students should now skip to the final level in the lesson where they will be able to make their

own project.

 12 Free Play: Make a Scene

Wrap Up (5 minutes)

Reflection

Today you learned how to write code to create programs in Sprite Lab.

Program - An algorithm that has been coded into something that can be run by a machine.

Algorithm - A list of steps to complete a task.

Journaling

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.

Prompts: What advice would you have for a friend who is interested in creating their own programs in

Sprite Lab?

This work is available under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

If you are interested in licensing Code.org materials for commercial purposes contact us.
Lesson 7: Sprites in Action

55 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this skill-building lesson, students will work through a Students will be able to:
series of programming levels on the computer, finishing
Create an interactive animation
with an open-ended “free play ” task where they can

build whatever they like. Students will write programs using events.

that respond to timed events and user input. Develop programs that respond

to timed events.

Develop programs that respond

Purpose to user input.

This lesson is designed to introduce students to

programming with events. Throughout this course, events

will be the primary way students change how their

Preparation
programs run over time or in response to the user.
Play through the levels and review

the lesson slides.

Full Course Alignment

Standards
Links
CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)

AP - Algorithms & Programming

Heads Up! Please make a copy of

any documents you plan to share

with students.

Agenda
For the teachers
Warm Up (15 minutes)

Follow the Algorithm Sprites in Action - Slides

 Make a Copy
Main Activity (35 minutes)

Sprites in Action
Vocabulary
Wrap Up (5 minutes)
Algorithm - A list of steps to finish
Reflection
a task.

Event - An action that causes

something to happen.

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (15 minutes)

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

Follow the Algorithm

 Remarks
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.

 Teaching Tip 

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.

Round 1 (Basic):

Begin marching in place.

Stop marching in place.

Begin clapping.

Stop clapping.

Begin marching in place.

Begin clapping.

Stop everything.

Discussion: 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.

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.

Discussion:

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.

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.

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

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?

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.

Main Activity (35 minutes)

Sprites in Action

Prediction (2 mins)

Do This: 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.

 1 Prediction

Video: Sprites in Action (3 mins)

Do This: Play the video, “Sprites in Action”

 2 Video: Sprites in Action

Skill Building and Practice (20 mins)

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.

 3-7 Skill Building

3 4 5 6 7

 8-13 Practice

8 9 10 11 12 13

Free Play (10 mins)

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.

 14 Free Play: Make an Interactive Scene

Wrap Up (5 minutes)

Reflection

 Remarks
Today you learned to create programs that change over time using events.

Event - An action that causes something to happen.

Journaling

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.

Prompts: 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?

This work is available under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

If you are interested in licensing Code.org materials for commercial purposes contact us.
Lesson 8: Virtual Pet with Sprite Lab

60 minutes

Overview Objectives

Students will create an interactive Virtual Pet that looks Students will be able to:
and behaves how they wish in this mini-project lesson.
Create an interactive virtual pet
Students will use Sprite Lab's "Costumes" tool to

customize their pet's appearance. They will then use using events, behaviors, variables,

events, behaviors, and other concepts they have learned and custom art.

to bring their project to life. Program solutions to problems

that arise when designing a virtual

pet, like feeding it or monitoring

Purpose
its happiness.

This lesson allows students to apply programming

concepts from prior lessons in another creative context.

Preparation

Play through the puzzles to find

Full Course Alignment
Standards any potential problem areas for

your class.
CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)
Make sure every student has a
AP - Algorithms & Programming
Reflection Journal.

Agenda
Links
Warm Up (15 minutes)

Introduction Heads Up! Please make a copy of

any documents you plan to share

Main Activity (30 minutes)
with students.

Virtual Pet with Sprite Lab

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

For the teachers

Reflection
Sprite Lab Documentation -

Resource
Cross-Curricular Opportunity

For the students

Pause and Think Online - Video

Vocabulary

Behavior - An action that a sprite

performs continuously until it’s

told to stop.

Event - An action that causes

something to happen.
Teaching Guide

Warm Up (15 minutes)

Introduction

Introduce the Sprite Lab "Costumes" tool that allows students to draw their own costumes.

Review: Ask students questions about events and behaviors.

Do you remember what an event is?

Do you remember what a behavior is?

Can you remember some of the behaviors you have used ? What do they do?

patrolling

jittering

spinning right/left

Display: Begin by showing Level 1 of today's lesson to your students.

Think/Pair: Ask students to predict what will happen when the code is run, and to discuss with their

neighbors. Run the code, and discuss the outcome.

Display: Show Level 2. Briefly demonstrate how to do the following:

Navigate between the Code and Costumes tabs.

Draw a costume.

Choose a costume from the costume library.

Change the virtual pet's sprite's costume to a custom one.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Virtual Pet with Sprite Lab

Goal: Today, students will be creating their own virtual pet! They will begin by drawing or selecting a

new costume for a sprite. Then they will create events that cause actions and behaviors upon

interaction.

Online Puzzles

Transition: Move students to their computers. Encourage students to follow the instructions for each

puzzle. Help them realize that this is a creative activity, intended to help them learn Sprite Lab.

 Teaching Tip 

Encourage students with questions/challenges to start by asking their partner. Unanswered

questions can be escalated to a nearby group, who might already know the solution. Have students

describe the problem that they ’re seeing:

What is it supposed to do?

What does it do?

What does that tell you?

Reminder: If puzzles are sharable, remind the students to only share their work with their close friends

or family. For more information watch or show the class *Pause and Think Online Video.

 1 Exploration

 2-6 Mini-Project: Create a Virtual Pet

2 3 4 5 6

 7 Free Play

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

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.

Prompts:

What was today's lesson about?

How do you feel about today's lesson?

What other options would you like to be able to have your pet do?

Cross-Curricular Opportunity

Providing Energy for your Virtual Pet (60-90 minutes)

Computer Science + English Language Arts + Science

Providing Energy for your Virtual Pet is an optional activity aligned to Common Core ELA and Next

Generation Science Standards, written by our teacher community. Students will create a scientific model

that shows how their virtual pet will receive the energy it needs to survive.

Standards Addressed:

CCSS.ELA.RI.5.7: Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the

ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.

CCSS.ELA.RI.5.9: Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or

speak about the subject knowledgeably.

5- PS3-1: Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion,

and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.

5-LS2-1: Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals,

decomposers, and the environment

 SL.5.5: Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations

when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

This work is available under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

If you are interested in licensing Code.org materials for commercial purposes contact us.
Lesson 9: Dance Party

12 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this skill-building lesson, students will program an Students will be able to:
interactive dance party.
Create dance animations with

code

Purpose Develop programs that respond

to timed events
This lesson introduces the core CS concepts of coding
Develop programs that respond
and event programming (using blocks).
to user input

Full Course Alignment

Standards Preparation

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)

Play through the puzzles to find

AP - Algorithms & Programming any potential problem areas for

your class.

Make sure every student has a

Agenda Reflection Journal.

Consider the need for

Warm Up (5 minutes)
headphones. This activity relies on

Activity (30-45 minutes)

sound.

Code Your Own Dance Party

Level by Level Support

Links
Wrap Up (7 minutes)

Reflection
Heads Up! Please make a copy of

Cross-Curricular Opportunity any documents you plan to share

with students.

For the teachers

Open-ended Programming

Levels - Answer Key

 Make a Copy

Spotify Playlist (all ages)

For the students

Dance Party Project Guide -

Worksheet  Make a Copy

Vocabulary

Event - An action that causes

something to happen.
 Program - An algorithm that has

been coded into something that

can be run by a machine.

code - to write code, or to write

instructions for a computer.

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (5 minutes)

Welcome students to class and very briefly introduce the day ’s activity.

 Remarks
Today we're going to do something really creative. What's your favorite way to be creative?

Encourage students to share the ways they express creativity, such as with art, dance, music, writing.

Explain that today we're going to be creative with our code. Just like choosing which type of colors of

paint to use, or what kinds of words you write with can be express creativity, choosing what code you

write and how people interact with it can be an opportunity to express your creativity too!

Get up and dance: Announce to the class that today we're going to see how we can combine coding

with dancing in a creative way. Ask your kids to floss, dab, or do a creative dance move of their own for

10 seconds to get them in the mood. You can play a song from this *Spotify Playlist to help kick things

off. Capture your class's moves on video.

Activity (30-45 minutes)

Code Your Own Dance Party

Music Filtering

This tutorial features songs from popular artists. To get a preview of the song list in this tutorial, check

out this *Spotify Playlist. We are using radio-safe versions of all songs. For students under 13, we limit

the music to this filtered list. If you would like to use the filtered list with older students, you can share

*Spotify Playlist with your classroom.

Level by Level Support

Warm Up

 1 Video: Dance Party Warm Up

Drag the red make a new block from the toolbox on the left to the workspace on the right. Connect

it inside the setup block.

You have now written your first program. Make sure to press Run to see what happens. You should

hear music and see a character start to move in the display area.

 2 Practice

Events

 3 Video: Dance Party Events

Events Level 4

Levels 4-5 are about making the dance interactive.

The green blocks are event blocks. These blocks start a new sequence of code and do not need to

be connected inside the setup block.

Connecting the purple block under the green event block allows you to make the character perform

a dance by pressing the orange arrow buttons or keys on your keyboard.

Make sure to press the arrow buttons after pressing Run or the dancer(s) won’t move.

Events Level 5

Make sure to bring out a second purple do once block. You should have a bears do once block and

a cats do once block in your workspace. Both should be connected to a green when pressed event

block.

Make sure to press the arrow buttons after pressing Run or the dancers won’t move.

 4-5 Events

4 5

Measures

 6 Video: Dance Party Measures

Measures Level 7
 Levels 7-8 are about synchronizing the dance to the music.

The after measures event blocks also start a new sequence of code and should not be connected

inside the setup block.

Connecting the purple do forever block under the green after measures event block should make

the character perform a dance move after the number of measures you indicate.

The do forever block works differently from the do once blocks seen in the previous levels.

Measures Level 8

Make sure to bring out a second green event block. You should have a after 4 measures block and a

after 6 measures block in your workspace. Both should have purple block connected underneath.

Measures Level 9

Level 9 is about creating groups of dancers quickly.

Use the new block provided into the toolbox to create a set of smaller dancers. *You should also use

the normal make a new block to create a larger “lead ” dancer.

Many students will be familiar with the idea that you can make something seem to be further away

by drawing it a smaller scale. In the next level you’ll be able to fine tune this effect.

 7-9 Measures

7 8 9

Properties

 10 Video: Dance Party Properties

Properties Level 11

Levels 11-13 are about adjusting the properties (e.g. size, color) of the dancers.

It is important to make sure that the teal set block is placed somewhere in the program after the
dancers have been created. To solve this puzzle, place a set size block anywhere in your program

and use it to change the size of some of your dancers.

Dancers created as a group have a default size of 30. Other dancers have a default size of 100.

Properties Level 12

As with the previous level, make sure to only use the set tint to (color) block after you have made

the dancers in your program. For example, placing it as the first step in the setup area of your

program will have no effect.

Properties Level 13

With the right code, you should see the dancer cycle through different colors, sizes, or dance moves.

Make sure there is a teal change, a teal randomize block, or a purple do forever block connected

inside the every 2 measures block.

Make sure do forever blocks are set to either (Next), (Previous), or (Random). Otherwise, the

dancer will just perform the set move repeatedly.

Note that the code students write in this level is not checked for correctness. This means they will

always pass the level, even if they do not change the program. Students should feel free to
 experiment with their code in ways that are interesting to them. Click the “Finish” button to move

on.

Making new dancers inside the every 2 measures block will cause your program to create multiple

identical dancers at the same location(s) and may lead to unintended consequences!

 11-13 Properties

11 12 13

 Teaching Tip 

By this point in the lesson you may notice that the instructions are less prescriptive. Encourage

students to be creative and explore the new blocks that are introduced. From this point on student

code is not checked for correctness in order to encourage experimentation instead of solving a

specific task.

Party On!

 14 Video: Dance Party Party On!

Party On! Level 15

This last level is very open-ended. The tutorial itself is designed to give students ample time to keep

working on their own dance.

Encourage Sharing: If students have cell phones with a data plan they can quickly text a link to

their projects to their own phone or a friend's. If your school policy allows it, encourage them to do

so here.

Encourage Creativity: Creativity is important throughout this lesson, but this is true here more than

anywhere else!

 15 Free Play

 16-17 Lesson Extras

 

Wrap Up (7 minutes)

Reflection (5 minutes)

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.

Prompts:
 What is something you enjoyed about today's activity?

What is the connection between creativity and computer science?

What is CS and why does it matter.

Cross-Curricular Opportunity

Survival of the Dancers (45-60 minutes)

Computer Science + Science

Survival of the Dancers is an optional activity aligned to Next Generation Science Standards, written by

our teacher community. Using Dance Party, students will select at least one organism (dancer) which is

well suited for the environment (world) they create. Students are encouraged to utilize the “properties”
blocks of code to customize the characteristics of each organism (dancer).

Standards Addressed:

NGSS.3-LS4-2: Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics

among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and

reproducing.

NGSS.3-LS4-3: Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms

can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

OPTIONAL EXTENSION: NGSS.3-LS4-4: Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem

caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may

change.

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Lesson 10: Loops with Rey and BB-8

45 minutes

Overview Objectives

This skill-building lesson has students using loops to help Students will be able to:
the Star Wars character BB-8 efficiently traverse a maze.
Break down a long sequence of

instructions into the largest

Purpose repeatable sequence.

Employ a combination of
In this lesson, students will be learning about loops and
sequential and looped commands
how to implement them in Blockly code. Using loops is an
to reach the end of a maze.
important skill in programming because manually
Identify the benefits of using a
repeating commands is tedious and inefficient. With the

Code.org puzzles, students will learn to add instructions loop structure instead of manual

to existing loops, gather repeated code into loops, and repetition.

recognize patterns that need to be looped. It should be

noted that students will face puzzles with many different

solutions. This will open up discussions on the various Preparation

ways to solve puzzles with advantages and
Play through the puzzles to
disadvantages to each approach.
determine if there will be any

problem areas for your class.

Full Course Alignment Make sure every student has a

Standards
Reflection Journal.

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)

AP - Algorithms & Programming

Links

Agenda Heads Up! Please make a copy of

any documents you plan to share

Warm Up (10 minutes)
with students.

Introduction

Main Activity (30 minutes)

For the students

Loops with Rey and BB-8

Pair Programming Video - Video

Unplugged Blocks (Courses C-F)

Wrap Up (5 minutes)

Reflection
 Make a Copy

Extended Learning
Vocabulary

Loop - The action of doing

something over and over again.

Repeat - To do something again.

Teaching Guide
Warm Up (10 minutes)

Introduction

If you're comfortable, give an introduction to BB-8 from Star Wars. Many children may be familiar with

the lovable robot, but an introduction will surely build excitement.

Pull up the online puzzles and choose a puzzle to do in front of the class. We recommend puzzle 10 for

its staircase pattern. 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.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Loops with Rey and BB-8

 1 Video: Programming with Rey and BB-8

 2 Practice

 3 Prediction

 4 Video: Repeat Blocks with BB-8

 5-9 Skill Building

5 6 7 8 9

 10 Challenge

 11-12 Practice

11 12

 13 Prediction
  14 Practice

 15-16 Lesson Extras

 

As students work through the puzzles, see if they can figure out how many blocks they use with a loop

vs. not using a loop. *Student Video works really well with this set of puzzles because there are a few

ways to fill the loops. Push for friendly discussion between pairs in instances of disagreement on how to

solve the puzzle. Have the students ask each other questions like:

How did you come up with that solution?

What are some benefits of solving the puzzle that way?

We also recommend having paper on hand for students to write out their code and find any repetition

to use in loops.

Wrap Up (5 minutes)

Reflection

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.

Prompts:

What was today ’s lesson about?

How did you feel during today ’s lesson?

How did loops make your program easier to write?

Think of something that repeats over and over again. What might the program for that look like?

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!

This work is available under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
If you are interested in licensing Code.org materials for commercial purposes contact us.
Lesson 11: Mini-Project: Sticker Art

60 minutes

Overview Objectives

This mini-project lesson builds on the understanding of Students will be able to:
loops. Students will create unique artwork with the Artist.
Differentiate between commands

that need to be repeated in loops

Purpose and commands that should be

used on their own.

This series highlights the power of loops with creative
Identify the benefits of using a
and personal designs.
loop structure instead of manual

Offered as a project-backed sequence, this progression

repetition.
will allow students to build on top of their own work and

create amazing artifacts.

Preparation

Full Course Alignment Practice making your own design.

Standards
Make note of how these levels are

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017) different from everything that

AP - Algorithms & Programming came before.

Make sure every student has a

Reflection Journal.

Agenda
Vocabulary
Warm Up (15 minutes)

Introduction Loop - The action of doing

something over and over again.

Main Activity (30 minutes)
Repeat - To do something again.
Sticker Art with Loops

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

Cross-Curricular Opportunity

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (15 minutes)

Introduction

Students should have had plenty of introduction to loops at this point. Based on what you think your

class could benefit from, we recommend:

Create a dance, putting repeated steps in loops.

As a class, play through a puzzle from the last lesson, "Loops with Rey and BB-8".
 Review how to use Artist by playing through a puzzle from "Creating Art with Code".

Preview a puzzle from this lesson.

All of these options will either review loops or the artist, which will help prepare your class for fun with

the online puzzles!

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Sticker Art with Loops

Encourage creativity during this activity! The instructions give examples but it is okay for students to

experiment with different stickers or types of designs. Even the example solutions we provide are not

the only solutions!

 Teaching Tip 

This lesson may feel very different from what has come earlier in the course. These levels have some

new characteristics you may want to explore before starting. The code your students write in one

level will automatically transfer over to the others. This allows them to build gradually and iterate on

their ideas as they learn. Note that these levels are not checked for correctness to allow for more

open-ended creativity. Empower your students to determine for themselves when they have

completed each task.

Mini-project: Sticker Design

 1-8 Mini-project: Sticker Design

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

 9 Free Play

Some students may discover where to add repeat loops by writing out the program without loops

then circling sections of repetitions. If the students in your class seem like they could benefit from this,

have them keep paper and pencils beside them at their computers. Students might also enjoy drawing

some of the shapes and figures on paper before they program it online. (When drawing stamps, it can

be easier to symbolize those with simple shapes like circles and squares.)

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

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.

Prompts:

What was today ’s lesson about?

How did you feel during today ’s lesson?

 What was the coolest shape or figure you programmed today? Draw it out!

What is another shape or figure you would like to program? Can you come up with the code to

create it?

Cross-Curricular Opportunity

Loopy Forms & Their Functions (45-60 minutes)

Computer Science + English Language Arts + Math + Science

Loopy Forms & Their Functions is an optional activity aligned to Common Core ELA, Common Core

Math and Next Generation Science Standards, written by our teacher community. Artist needs to help

his friends design their house by drawing blueprints. It is important that students understands basic

shapes and how each shape serves different functions in the house blueprints. They will then write

opinion pieces, supply reasons and use linking words to justify their design choices.

Standards Addressed:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.1: Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are

writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g.,

because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.G.A.1: Recognize and draw shapes having specified attributes, such as a

given number of angles or a given number of equal faces.1 Identify triangles, quadrilaterals,

pentagons, hexagons, and cubes.

NGSS.K-2-ETS1-2: Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of

an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.

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If you are interested in licensing Code.org materials for commercial purposes contact us.
Lesson 12: Nested Loops in Maze

55 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this skill-building lesson, students will learn how to Students will be able to:
program a loop inside of another loop.
Break complex tasks into smaller

repeatable sections.

Purpose Identify the benefits of using a

loop structure instead of manual

In this introduction to nested loops, students will go
repetition.
outside of their comfort zone to create more efficient
Recognize large repeated
solutions to puzzles.
patterns as made from smaller
In earlier puzzles, loops pushed students to recognize
repeated patterns.
repetition. Here, students will learn to recognize patterns

within repeated patterns to develop these nested loops.

This stage starts off by encouraging students to try to
Preparation
solve a puzzle where the code is irritating and complex to

write out the long way. After a video introduces nested Play through the puzzles to find

loops, students are shown an example and asked to any potential problem areas for
predict what will happen when a loop is put inside of
your class.
another loop. This progression leads to plenty of practice
Make sure every student has a
for students to solidify and build on their understanding
Reflection Journal.
of looping in programming.

Vocabulary
Full Course Alignment
Standards Command - An instruction for the

computer. Many commands put

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)
together make up algorithms and
AP - Algorithms & Programming
computer programs.

Loop - The action of doing

something over and over again.

Agenda
Repeat - To do something again.

Warm Up (10 minutes)

Introduction

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Nested Loops in Maze

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (10 minutes)

Introduction

Briefly review with the class what loops are and why we use them.

What do loops do?

Loops repeat a set of commands.

How do we use loops?

We use loops to create a pattern made of repeated actions.

Tell the class that they will now be doing something super cool: using loops inside loops. Ask the class to

predict what kinds of things we would be using a loop inside of a loop for.

If a loop repeats a pattern, then looping a loop would repeat a pattern of patterns!

Students don't need to understand this right away, so feel free to move on to the online puzzles even if

students still seem a little confused.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Nested Loops in Maze

We highly recommend pair programming for this lesson. This may not be an easy topic for the majority

of your students. Working with a partner and discussing potential solutions to the puzzles might ease

the students' minds.

Also, have paper and pencils nearby for students to write out their plan before coding. Some puzzles

have a limit on the number of certain blocks you can use, so if students like to write out the long answer

to find the repeats, paper can be useful.

 1-2 Practice

1 2

 3 Video: Nested Loops with the Bee

 4 Prediction

 5-9 Practice

5 6 7 8 9

 10 Challenge
  11-12 Practice

11 12

 13 Prediction

 14-15 Lesson Extras

 

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

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.

Prompts:

What was today's lesson about?

How did you feel about today's lesson?

What is a nested loop?

Can you draw a puzzle that would use a nested loop? Try coding the solution to your own puzzle.

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Lesson 13: Snowflakes with Anna and

Elsa

60 minutes

Overview Objectives

This mini-project lesson takes students through a series Students will be able to:
of exercises to create snowflake images using characters

from the Frozen movies. Break apart code into the largest

repeatable sequences using both

loops and nested loops.

Purpose Describe when a loop, nested

loop, or no loop is needed.

In this series, students will get to practice nesting loops
Recognize the difference
while creating images that they will be excited to share.
between using a loop and a
Beginning with a handful of instructions, students will
nested loop.
make their own decisions when it comes to creating

designs for repetition. They will then spin those around a

variety of ways to end up with a work of art that is truly

Preparation
unique.

Play through the lesson to find

and potential problem areas for

Full Course Alignment
Standards your class.

Make sure every student has a

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)
Reflection Journal.

AP - Algorithms & Programming

Vocabulary

Agenda Loop - The action of doing

something over and over again.

Warm Up (15 minutes)
Repeat - To do something again.
Introduction

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Snowflakes with Anna and Elsa

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (15 minutes)

Introduction

Ask the class to discuss the last set of puzzles.

 What did they like/dislike?

Which puzzles were hard? Why?

Which puzzles were easy? Why?

If you were to teach nested loops to a friend, what would you say to help them understand?

If there's time, give an introduction to the main characters of today's puzzles, Anna and Elsa from

Frozen. Give the class the sisters' back story if the class doesn't already know. To build excitement, tell

the class they will be using nested loops to make some fantastic drawings with Anna and Elsa's ice

skates!

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Snowflakes with Anna and Elsa

This set of puzzles is set up as a progression. This means every puzzle builds a foundation for the next

puzzle. Students will enjoy making more and more interesting designs by making small and simple

changes to code they have already written.

 1-4 Skill Building

1 2 3 4

 5-6 Practice

5 6

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

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.

Prompts:

What was today ’s lesson about?

How did you feel during today ’s lesson?

When do you use a loop? When do you use a nested loop?

How would the code for your snowflake look different if you only used one loop? No loops? Can you

draw out an example?

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Lesson 14: Looking Ahead with Minecraft

45 minutes

Overview Objectives

This skill-building lesson gives students the chance to Students will be able to:
practice concepts that they have learned up to this point
Define circumstances when
and get their first experience with conditionals!
certain parts of a program should

run and when they shouldn't.

Purpose Determine whether a conditional

is met based on criteria.

This set of puzzles will work to solidify and build on the

knowledge of loops, and introduce conditionals. By

pairing these two concepts together, students will be

Preparation
able to explore the potential for creating fun and

innovative programs in a new and exciting environment.

Play through the puzzles

associated with this lesson to find

any potential problem areas for

Full Course Alignment
Standards your class.

Make sure every student has a

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)
Reflection Journal.
AP - Algorithms & Programming

Vocabulary

Agenda Condition - Something a program

checks to see if it is true before

Warm Up (15 minutes)
allowing an action.
Introduction
Conditionals - Statements that

Main Activity (30 minutes) only run under certain conditions.

Looking Ahead with Minecraft

Wrap Up

Reflection

Extended Learning

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (15 minutes)

Introduction

Gather the class together and ask two volunteers to walk straight in some direction in the classroom. If

they encounter a chair out of place, they must step over it. If they reach a wall, they must sit down.
Once all of the students are sitting down, ask how you would program a robot to respond to a wall or a

chair. Remind students that you cannot simply say "Step over chair" unless you know there is a chair,

and you will not always know there is a chair. It might be helpful to translate the task into instructions

like:

while there is a path ahead

walk forward

if there is a chair, step over it

sit down

Tell students they will be using conditionals during this lesson. Give the definition of:

Condition: A statement that a program checks to see if it is true or false. If true, an action is taken.
Otherwise, the action is ignored.

Conditionals: Statements that only run under certain conditions.

Open up a discussion of when you might use a conditional in your code.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Looking Ahead with Minecraft

Online Puzzles

Students are in for a real treat with this lesson. It's likely most of your students have heard of Minecraft ,

but give a brief introduction for those that may not know.

Minecraft is a game of cubes. You can play as Alex or Steve as you work through mazes. You'll need to

avoid lava, pick up items, and explore in a world made up of cubes of things.

Demonstrate one of the puzzles to the class (we recommend puzzle 11.) Once all questions have been

addressed, transition students to computers and let them start pair programming.

 1-10 Skill Building

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

 11-13 Challenge

11 12 13

 14 Free Play

Wrap Up

Reflection

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.

Prompts:

Draw a feeling face to show how you felt during today ’s lesson.

Draw something else you could have built in this minecraft world.

Can you draw a scene where someone is using a conditional?

Extended Learning

Use these activities to enhance student learning. They can be used as outside of class activities or other

enrichment.

More Minecraft

If you find that your class really enjoys the Minecraft environment, here are some links to other

Minecraft games they can play online. These games will also teach basic coding skills.

This work is available under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

If you are interested in licensing Code.org materials for commercial purposes contact us.
Lesson 15: If/Else with Bee

55 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this skill-building lesson, your class will continue to Students will be able to:
code with conditionals, allowing them to write code that
Solve puzzles using a combination
functions differently depending on the specific conditions

the program encounters. of looped sequences and

conditionals.

Translate spoken language

Purpose conditional statements into a

program.
Students will practice using conditionals in their

programs. The if / else blocks will allow for a more flexible

program. The bee will only collect nectar if there is a

flower or make honey if there is a honeycomb.

Preparation

Play through the puzzles to find

any potential problem areas for

Full Course Alignment
Standards your class.

Make sure every student has a

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)
Reflection Journal.
AP - Algorithms & Programming

Links
Agenda

Warm Up (10 minutes) Heads Up! Please make a copy of

any documents you plan to share

Introduction
with students.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

If/Else with Bee

For the students

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Unplugged Blocks (Courses C-F)
Reflection
 Make a Copy

Extended Learning
Vocabulary

Conditionals - Statements that

only run under certain conditions.

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (10 minutes)

Introduction
We are going to use conditionals with the Code.org bee to help him deal with some mysterious clouds.
We don't know if his flowers have nectar or not, so we'll need to use conditionals to make sure that we

collect nectar if it's there, but that we don't try to collect nectar from a flower that doesn't have any.

Pull up a puzzle from this lesson, we recommend puzzle 9.

Ask the class what the bee should do when it gets to the cloud.

The bee should use a conditional to check for a flower or a honeycomb.

Use the if at flower / else block. Ask the class what the bee should do if there's a flower. If there's

not a flower, there will be a honeycomb. What should the bee do then?

The bee should get nectar if there is a flower and make honey if there is a honeycomb.

Fill in the rest of the code and press Run. Discuss with the class why this worked.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

If/Else with Bee

These puzzles might sprout some questions, so have the students work in pairs or implement the "Ask

three before you ask me" rule (have the students ask three other peers for help before they go to the

teacher.) This will spark discussions that will develop each student's understanding.

 1 Video: Conditionals: If Statements

 2 Prediction

 3-7 Skill Building

3 4 5 6 7

 8 Video: Conditionals: If and If/Else Statements

 9 Skill Building

 10 Prediction

 11 Challenge
  12-13 Practice

12 13

 14-15 Lesson Extras

 

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

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.

Prompts:

What was today's lesson about?

How did today's lesson make you feel?

What conditionals did you use in your code today?

What are some other conditionals a bee might use? Examples include:

if there is a tree in front of me, buzz out of the way

if my wing is hurt, rest on the ground

if I see another bee, say "Hello!"

Extended Learning

Use these activities to enhance student learning. They can be used as outside of class activities or other

enrichment.

True/False Tag

Line students up as if to play Red Light / Green Light.

Select one person to stand in front as the Caller.

The Caller chooses a condition and asks everyone who meets that condition to take a step forward.

If you have a red belt, step forward.

If you are wearing sandals, take a step forward.

Try switching it up by saying things like "If you are not blonde, step forward."

Nesting

Break students up into pairs or small groups.

Have them write if statements for playing cards on strips of paper, such as:

If the suit is clubs

If the color is red

Have students create similar strips for outcomes.

Add one point

Subtract one point

 Once that's done, have students choose three of each type of strip and three playing cards, paying

attention to the order selected.

Using three pieces of paper, have students write three different programs using only the sets of

strips that they selected, in any order.

Encourage students to put some if statements inside other if statements.

Now, students should run through all three programs using the cards that they drew, in the same

order for each program.

Did any two programs return the same answer?

Did any return something different?

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Lesson 16: While Loops in Farmer

60 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this skill-building lesson, students will be working to fill Students will be able to:
holes and dig dirt in Farmer, but they will not know the
Distinguish between loops that
size of the holes or the height of the mounds of dirt. To

solve these puzzles, students will use a new kind of loop. repeat a fixed number of times

and loops that repeat as long as a

condition is true.

Purpose Use a while loop to create

programs that can solve problems

As your students continue to deepen their knowledge of
with unknown values.
loops, they will come across problems where a command

needs to be repeated, but it is unknown how many times

it needs to be repeated. This is where while loops come

in. In today's lesson, students will develop a beginner's

Preparation
understanding of condition-based loops and also expand
Play through the puzzles to find
their knowledge of loops in general.
any potential problem areas for

your class.

Full Course Alignment Make sure every student has a

Standards
Reflection Journal.

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)

AP - Algorithms & Programming

Links

Agenda Heads Up! Please make a copy of

any documents you plan to share

Warm Up (15 minutes) with students.

Introduction

For the students

Main Activity (30 minutes)

While Loops in Farmer Unplugged Blocks (Courses C-F)

 Make a Copy
Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection
Vocabulary

Condition - Something a program

checks to see if it is true before

allowing an action.

Loop - The action of doing

something over and over again.

Repeat - To do something again.

While Loop - A loop that

continues to repeat while a

condition is true.
Teaching Guide

Warm Up (15 minutes)

Introduction

Use "while" in a sentence in front of the students. Ask the students what the word "while" means. If you

were to say "while there is a hole, fill it with dirt" what would they do? How long would they do that?

When you use a word like “while ”, you are relying on a condition to tell the computer how long the loop

should run. A condition is a statement that is tested and found to be true or false. In the case above, the

condition is true, if there is a hole. It’s only possible for there to be a hole or for there not to be a hole,

thus the statement is only ever true or false.

Tell the students they will be learning about a new kind of loop. Previously, students only used loops to

repeat a command a certain number of times. Here, they won't always know how many times to repeat

the command, however, they will know when to stop or when to keep going. While loops allow the

programmer to repeat a command as long as a condition is still true. In the previous example, the

condition is the existence of a hole.

If there's time, have the students discuss other times using a while loop would be useful. Examples

include:

Running toward a ball while it is in front of you.

Filling a glass while it has space for more liquid.

Walk forward while there is a path ahead.

Preview of Online Puzzles

Pull up a puzzle from today's online Code Studio puzzles. We recommend Puzzle 6.

Ask the class what the farmer should do when she gets to the pile of dirt.

She should use a while loop to start removing the dirt.

Use the while there is a pile / do block. Ask the class what the farmer should do within the while

loop.

The farmer should remove 1. The farmer will keep "removing 1 dirt" while there is dirt. In other

words, when there is no dirt, remove 1 will no longer execute!

Fill in the rest of the code and press Run. Discuss with the class why this worked.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

While Loops in Farmer

While loops are not always a difficult concept for students to understand, but if you think your class

might struggle with these puzzles, we recommend pair programming. This will allow students to bounce

ideas off each other before implementing the code. Pair programming works to increase confidence

and understanding with topics like while loops.

 1-3 Skill Building

 1 2 3

 4 Video: While Loops with the Farmer

 5 Prediction

 6-9 Skill Building

6 7 8 9

 10 Challenge

 11-12 Practice

11 12

 13 Prediction

 14 Lesson Extras

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

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.

Prompts:

What was today's lesson about?

How do you feel about today's lesson?

What is the difference between a while loop and a normal repeat loop?

Give an example of a puzzle where you would use a while loop, but not use a repeat loop. Can you

give an example of a puzzle where you would use a repeat loop, but not a while loop?

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If you are interested in licensing Code.org materials for commercial purposes contact us.
Lesson 17: Conditionals in Minecraft:

Voyage Aquatic

60 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this context-setting lesson, students will get the Students will be able to:
chance to practice content that they have learned up to
Define circumstances when
this point, as well as getting a sneak peek at conditionals!
certain parts of a program should

run and when they shouldn't.

Purpose Determine whether a conditional

is met based on criteria.

This set of puzzles will work to solidify and build on the

knowledge of loops, and conditionals. By pairing these

two concepts together, students will be able to explore

Preparation
the potential for creating fun and innovative programs in

a new and exciting environment.

Play through the puzzles

associated with this lesson to find

any potential problem areas for

Full Course Alignment
Standards your class.

Make sure every student has a

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)
Reflection Journal.
AP - Algorithms & Programming

Vocabulary

Agenda Condition - Something a program

checks to see if it is true before

Warm Up (15 minutes)
allowing an action.
Introduction
Conditionals - Statements that

Main Activity (30 minutes) only run under certain conditions.

Conditionals in Minecraft: Voyage Aquatic

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

Extended Learning

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (15 minutes)

Introduction

Gather the class together and ask two volunteers to walk straight in some direction in the classroom. If

they encounter a chair out of place, they must step over it. If they reach a wall, they must sit down.
Once all of the students are sitting down, ask how you would program a robot to respond to a wall or a

chair. Remind students that you cannot simply say "Step over chair" unless you know there is a chair,

and you will not always know there is a chair. It might be helpful to translate the task into instructions

like:

while there is a path ahead

walk forward

if there is a chair, step over it

sit down

Tell students they will be using conditionals during this lesson. Give the definition of:

Condition: A statement that a program checks to see if it is true or false. If true, an action is taken.
Otherwise, the action is ignored.

Conditionals: Statements that only run under certain conditions.

Open up a discussion of when you might use a conditional in your code.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Conditionals in Minecraft: Voyage Aquatic

Students are in for a real treat with this lesson. It's likely most of your students have heard of Minecraft ,

but give a brief introduction for those that may not know.

Minecraft is a game of cubes. You can play as Alex or Steve as you work through mazes. You'll need to

pick up items, and explore in a world made up of cubes of things.

Demonstrate one of the puzzles to the class. Once all questions have been addressed, transition

students to computers and let them start pair programming.

 1 Video: Minecraft: Voyage Aquatic Introduction

 2-4 Skill Building

2 3 4

 5 Video: Minecraft: Voyage Aquatic Repeat Until

 6-8 Skill Building

6 7 8

 9 Video: Minecraft: Voyage Aquatic Conditionals

  10-14 Skill Building

10 11 12 13 14

 15 Video: Minecraft: Voyage Aquatic Congratulations

 16 Free Play

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

Prompts:

Draw a feeling face to show how you felt during today ’s lesson.

Draw something else you could have built in this Minecraft world.

Can you draw a scene where someone is using a conditional?

Extended Learning

Use these activities to enhance student learning. They can be used as outside of class activities or other

enrichment.

More Minecraft

If you find that your class really enjoys the Minecraft environment, here are some links to other

Minecraft games they can play online. These games will also teach basic coding skills.

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Lesson 18: Until Loops in Maze

60 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this skill-building lesson, students will learn about until Students will be able to:
loops. Students will build programs that have the main
Build programs with the
character repeat actions until they reach their desired

stopping point. understanding of multiple

strategies to implement

conditionals.

Purpose Translate spoken language

conditional statements and loops

This set of puzzles will work to solidify and build on the
into a program.
knowledge of loops by adding the until conditional. By

pairing these concepts together, students will be able to

explore the potential for creating complex and innovative

programs.
Preparation

Play through the puzzles to find

any potential problem areas for

Full Course Alignment
Standards your class.

Make sure every student has a

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)
Reflection Journal.
AP - Algorithms & Programming

Vocabulary
Agenda Condition - Something a program

checks to see if it is true before

Warm Up (15 minutes)
allowing an action.
Introduction
Conditionals - Statements that

Main Activity (30 minutes)

only run under certain conditions.

Until Loops in Maze

Loop - The action of doing

something over and over again.

Wrap Up (15 minutes)
Repeat - To do something again.
Reflection
Until - A command that tells you

to do something only up to the

point that something becomes

true.

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (15 minutes)

Introduction
In this lesson, students will be creating loops that only run until a condition is true. Help the students

understand how this works by leading them in group activities and having them do an action until some

condition is true. For example: Have students touch their nose until you tell them to stop.

Preview of Online Puzzles

Pull up a puzzle from today's Code Studio puzzles. We recommend Puzzle 4.

Ask the class what the bird should repeat to get to the pig.

The bird should repeat move forward, turn right, move forward, and then turn left.

Ask the class what they can use to repeat this code.

The bird should repeat this pattern until it reaches the pig.

Fill in the rest of the code using the repeat until loop and press Run. Discuss with the class why this

worked.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Until Loops in Maze

Bringing together concepts is not easy, but this set of levels is meant to help students see the endless

possibilities of coding when using conditions. If students struggle at all with understanding the

similarities or differences between while loops and until loops, have them try to think of how they would

use similar statements in their real lives.

 1 Skill Building

 2 Video: Repeat Until Statements

 3 Prediction

 4-8 Skill Building

4 5 6 7 8

 9 Challenge

 10 Practice

 11 Prediction
Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

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.

Prompts:

What was today's lesson about?

How do you feel about today's lesson?

What's the difference between an until loop and a while loop?

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Lesson 19: Harvesting with Conditionals

50 minutes

Overview Objectives

Students will practice while loops, until loops, and if / else Students will be able to:
statements. All of these blocks use conditionals. By
Nest conditionals to analyze
practicing all three, students will learn to write complex

and flexible code. multiple value conditions using if,

else if, else logic.

Pair a loop and conditional

Purpose statement together.

Practicing the use of conditionals in different scenarios

helps to develop a student's understanding of what

Preparation
conditionals can do. In the previous lesson, students only

used conditionals to move around a maze. In this lesson,

Play through the lesson to find
students will use conditionals to help the farmer know
any potential problem areas for
when to harvest crops. New patterns will emerge and
your class.
students will use creativity and logical thinking to
Make sure every student has a
determine the conditions where code should be run and
Reflection Journal.
repeated.

Vocabulary
Full Course Alignment
Standards Condition - Something a program

checks to see if it is true before

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)
allowing an action.
AP - Algorithms & Programming
Conditionals - Statements that

only run under certain conditions.

Loop - The action of doing

Agenda
something over and over again.

Warm Up (5 minutes) Repeat - To do something again.

Introduction While Loop - A loop that

continues to repeat while a

Main Activity (30 minutes)
condition is true.
Harvesting with Conditionals

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (5 minutes)

Introduction

Students shouldn't need as much of an introduction to concepts today because they have had practice
with them in the previous lesson. Instead, you can share the story of the harvester.

The harvester is trying to pick crops like pumpkins, lettuce, and corn. However, the farmer has forgotten

where she planted these crops, so she needs to check each plant before harvesting.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Harvesting with Conditionals

Students will continue to work with if / else statements, while loops, and until loops. These puzzles are a

bit more challenging, though, so encourage students to stick with them until they can describe what

needs to happen for each program.

 1 Video: Harvesting with Conditionals

 2-5 Skill Building

2 3 4 5

 6-7 Practice

6 7

 8 Challenge

 9-10 Practice

9 10

 11 Prediction

 12-13 Lesson Extras

 

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

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.

Prompts:

What was today's lesson about?

How do you feel about today's lesson?

How can you see conditionals being useful in programs?

What if people only spoke in if/else statements? What would be some advantages and

disadvantages of this?

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Lesson 20: Functions in Minecraft

60 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this skill-building lesson, students will begin to Students will be able to:
understand how functions can be helpful!
Use functions to simplify complex

programs.

Purpose Use pre-determined functions to

complete commonly repeated

Students will discover the versatility of programming by
tasks.
practicing functions in different environments. Here,

students will recognize reusable patterns and be able to

incorporate named blocks to call pre-defined functions.

Preparation

Play through the puzzles to find

Full Course Alignment
Standards any potential problem areas for

your class.
CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)
Make sure every student has a
AP - Algorithms & Programming
Reflection Journal.

Agenda Links

Warm Up (15 minutes)

Heads Up! Please make a copy of
Introduction
any documents you plan to share

Main Activity (30 minutes) with students.

Functions in Minecraft

For the students

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection Unplugged Blocks (Courses C-F)

 Make a Copy

Vocabulary

Function - A piece of code that

you can easily call over and over

again.

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (15 minutes)

Introduction
Help the class understand that functions are simply a chunk of code that has a name. Once defined, you

can use that name over and over in your program to tell the computer to run the chunk of code that

you assigned to it.

Pull up a puzzle from the lesson. We recommend puzzle 9. As a class, work through the puzzle without

using functions. Once you have gotten the solution, display it on a white board or overhead.

Ask: Why can't you just use a loop?

On the white board or overhead, rewrite the program without the repeated code, but leaving one line

space. In that/those line space(s), call a function. Off to the side, declare the function like the left

example block in the lesson tip. Ask the class what they think the code will do now.

Open up a discussion with the class on why functions could be useful in programming. Invite students to

discuss the difference between functions and loops.

 Teaching Tip 

Function blocks:

The block to the left is a function declaration, a block that students will name and use to fill in the

function. The block to the right is a function call, a block that makes the function code run. Students

will need multiple of the function call blocks.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Functions in Minecraft

 1 Video: Minecraft - The Agent

 Teaching Tip 

We recommend providing paper and pencils for students to write (or draw) out ideas. Also, if

students are having trouble recognizing patterns, have them work with a partner on the harder

puzzles.

 2-3 Skill Building

2 3

 4 Video: Minecraft - Repeat Loops

  5-9 Skill Building

5 6 7 8 9

 10 Video: Minecraft - Functions

 11-14 Skill Building

11 12 13 14

 15 Video: Minecraft - Congratulations

 16 Free Play

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

Prompts:

What was today's lesson about?

How do you feel about today's lesson?

What did your functions do in the programs you wrote today? How did that help you?

When should you use a function instead of a loop?

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Lesson 21: Functions with Artist

60 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this skill-building lesson, students will use functions Students will be able to:
with the Artist.
Categorize and generalize code

into useful functions.

Purpose Recognize when a function could

help to simplify a program.

One of the most important components to this lesson is

providing students with a space to create something

they are proud of. These puzzles progress to more and

Preparation
more complex images, but each new puzzle only builds

off the previous puzzle. At the end of this lesson, Play through the puzzles to find
students will feel confident and proud of their hard work.
any potential problem areas for

your class.

Make sure every student has a

Full Course Alignment
Standards Reflection Journal.

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)

AP - Algorithms & Programming

Links

Heads Up! Please make a copy of

Agenda
any documents you plan to share

with students.
Warm Up (15 minutes)

Introduction

For the students

Main Activity (30 minutes)
Unplugged Blocks (Courses C-F)
Functions with Artist
 Make a Copy

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection
Vocabulary
Extended Learning
Function - A piece of code that

you can easily call over and over

again.

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (15 minutes)

Introduction

Tell the class that there are two main components to using functions.
 1. The Declaration: Function declarations are what create a function. In a function declaration, you fill in

the function with code and you give the function a name. You must declare a function before you

can use it.

2. The Call: Function calls are what makes the program run the code in the function. To call a function,

you place the name of the function in your program. Make sure your function is properly defined

before calling it in your program.

Students may benefit from writing code without functions then creating functions from the repeated

code. If students don't enjoy doing this in the Code.org workspace, we recommend providing paper

and pencils for students to write (or draw) out their ideas.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Functions with Artist

 1 Prediction

 2-9 Practice

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

 10 Challenge

 11 Practice

 12 Prediction

 13 Free Play

 14-15 Lesson Extras

 

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection
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.

Prompts:

What was today ’s lesson about?

How do you feel about today ’s lesson?

What are some differences between functions and loops?

Sketch out a drawing you made today. Can you write the code needed to create this?

Draw a picture you would like to create with code. Try writing or drafting the code that would make

that drawing.

Extended Learning

Use these activities to enhance student learning. They can be used as outside of class activities or other

enrichment.

Draw by Functions

Break the class into groups of 2-3 students. Have each group write a function that draws some kind of

shape and a program that uses that function. Depending on the creativity or focus the groups, students

might need to be assigned a shape to create. Once every group is done, have the groups switch

programs. On a separate piece of paper, each group should draw what the program creates. The

groups should then return the programs and drawings to the original group.

Did every group get the drawing they expected? If not, what went wrong? Have the class go through

the debugging process and try again.

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Lesson 22: Functions with Harvester

55 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this skill-building lesson, students will use conditionals Students will be able to:
with functions to harvest crops in Harvester.
Recognize when a function could

help to simplify a program.

Purpose Use pre-determined functions to

complete commonly repeated

This lesson is meant to further push students to use
tasks.
functions in more creative ways. Students will learn there

are many ways to approach a problem, but some are

more efficient than others. These puzzles are intended to

Preparation
increase problem solving and critical thinking skills.

Play through the puzzles to find

any potential problem areas for

Full Course Alignment
Standards your class.

Make sure ever student has a

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)
Reflection Journal.
AP - Algorithms & Programming

Vocabulary

Agenda Function - A piece of code that

you can easily call over and over

Warm Up (10 minutes)
again.
Introduction

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Functions with Harvester

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (10 minutes)

Introduction

At this point, your students should already be introduced to functions. Take this time to have them

discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using functions in a program. Either have them pair-share

or discuss as a class. Try using examples of hard or easy puzzles in either Artist or Bee.

Ask the class:

When would you use a function?

 Why does a function help to simplify your program?

Do you think functions make programming easier or harder? Why?

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Functions with Harvester

Online Puzzles

Some puzzles will have a function pre-declared for the students to fill in. It may be helpful for the

students to write the entire program without a function first, then determine where a function would be

useful in the program.

It's important to make sure that every student is completing each puzzle with a dark green dot. If some

of your students are struggling to simplify code and use functions, set up teams of expert students

within your class to go around and answer questions.

Don't forget to provide pencils and paper to help students sketch out possible solutions.

 1-6 Practice

1 2 3 4 5 6

 7 Video: How to Create a Simple Function

 8-10 Practice

8 9 10

 11 Challenge

 12 Practice

 13 Prediction

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection
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.

Prompts:

What was today's lesson about?

How did you feel about today's lesson?

What makes you realize a function could help your program?

How do while loops and if / else statements help your program?

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Lesson 23: Text and Prompts

45 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this skill-building lesson, students will get practice with Students will be able to:
variables in Sprite Lab.
Actions Use variables to hold

words and phrases.

Purpose Use variables in conjunction with

prompts.
Variables will be used in this course to store and modify

data. At this point, students will simply be storing and

retrieving values without changing them. In later lessons,

Preparation
students will store numerical values and modify them

over time to keep track of things like a player’s score in a Play through the levels and review

game. the lesson slides.

Full Course Alignment Links

Standards

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)

Heads Up! Please make a copy of

AP - Algorithms & Programming any documents you plan to share

with students.

Agenda For the teachers

Warm Up (5 minutes) Sprite Lab Documentation -

Review Resource

Text and Prompts - Slides

Main Activity (30 minutes)
 Make a Copy
Text and Prompts

Wrap Up (10 minutes) Vocabulary

Review
Variable - A label for a piece of
Reflection
information used in a program.

prompt - A message on the

computer screen that waits for

input from the user.

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (5 minutes)

Review
Discuss: How do computer programs ask us for information?

Discussion Goal: Students should think about their own experiences as users and times when a

computer asks them for information. There are lots of ways to input information into a computer, but

focus on ideas where something is typed into a prompt for now.

 Remarks
When a message on the computer screen is waiting for your input we call that a prompt. When a user

types into a prompt, it’s like the computer is storing the information in a container. The variable's label

tells us what kind of information to expect. Today we are going to learn the code to create a prompt in

Sprite Lab.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Text and Prompts

Prediction (5 mins)

Do This: 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.

 1 Prediction

Video (5 minutes)

Display the video to the whole class.

 2 Video: Text and Prompts

 Teaching Tip 

Just like when students are writing or communicating verbally, it's important to set expectations on

using words appropriately in this activity. Students should understand that they are responsible for

the code that they write, including any text that shows on the screen. The text should be respectful,

as well as safe. Students can practice not sharing personal information in their programs, especially if

they want to share with others. Note that any information typed into a Sprite Lab prompt isn't saved

long-term. Words and messages typed by the users of these apps is gone once the app is reset.

Skill Building and Practice (20 mins)

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.

 3-8 Skill Building

 3 4 5 6 7 8

 Teaching Tip 

This lesson has more skill building and practice levels than previous lessons, because students are

learning a few new skills all at once. As such, there is not a dedicated “free play ” level. However,

students who are feeling confident with their new skills can choose the last practice option to start

from scratch with a blank project. In the next lesson, students will also be working exclusively on their

own project that they plan and design ahead of time.

 9-15 Practice

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Wrap Up (10 minutes)

Review

Do This: Use the lesson slides to review the vocabulary for this lesson. Be sure that students can recall

from the lesson where they saw each of these concepts.

 Remarks
When a user enters information into a prompt, the computer stores it with a variable. The prompt can

also trigger an event. If the code uses a variable, the computer will look for a matching label to find

the stored information.

Reflection

Pick one (or both) of the reflection prompts below to give to students. They can journal individually, or

discuss the answers in groups or as a class.

Prompts:

How is a variable like a box? How is it different?

Why do programmers need variables?

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Lesson 24: Using Variables with the

Artist

40 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this skill-building lesson, students will explore the Students will be able to:
creation of repetitive designs using variables in the Artist
Assign values to existing variables.
environment. Students will learn how variables make

code easier to write and easier to read. After guided Use variables to change values

puzzles, students will end in a free play level to show inside of a loop.

what they have learned and create new designs. Utilize variables in place of

repetitive values inside of a

program.
Purpose

Variables are essentially placeholders for values that

might be unknown at the time that you run your program

Preparation
or for values that can change during the execution of a
Play through the puzzles to find
program. These are vital to creating dynamic code
any potential problem areas for
because they allow your program to change and grow
your class.
based on any number of potential modifications. This
Make sure every student has a
stage reinforces the use of variables, using the most basic

capabilities of setting and using them. Reflection Journal.

Full Course Alignment Links

Standards

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017) Heads Up! Please make a copy of

any documents you plan to share

AP - Algorithms & Programming
with students.

Agenda For the students

Warm Up (5 minutes) Variables - Student Video

Review (Download)

Main Activity (20 minutes)

Vocabulary
Using Variables with Artist

Variable - A label for a piece of

Wrap Up (15 minutes)
information used in a program.
Reflection

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (5 minutes)
Review

It might be helpful to remind students of what they know about variables so far.

How are variables like a box or container?

Once information is stored in a variable, how do we use it later in a program?

Main Activity (20 minutes)

Using Variables with Artist

Consider reviewing the Prediction level and video with the full class before moving students on to the

Skill Building section.

 1 Prediction

 2 Video: Variables in Artist

 3-6 Skill Building

3 4 5 6

 7 Free Play

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

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.

Prompts:

What was today ’s lesson about?

How did you feel during today ’s lesson?

Have you tried mixing multiple variables into one program? What might that look like? When would

it be helpful?

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Lesson 25: Variables with the Bee

60 minutes

Overview Objectives

This skill-building lesson will help illustrate how variables Students will be able to:
can make programs more dynamic by allowing values to
Examine code to find places
change while the code is running.
where variables can be

substituted for specific values.

Purpose Identify areas where they can use

variables to modify quantities

This lesson will illustrate how code with changing values
during runtime.
can be helpful and prepare students to understand how

"for loops" work in upcoming lessons.

Preparation
Full Course Alignment
Standards Play through the puzzles to find

any potential problem areas for

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)
your class.
AP - Algorithms & Programming
Make sure every student has a

Reflection Journal.

Agenda
Vocabulary
Warm Up (15 minutes)
Variable - A label for a piece of
Introduction
information used in a program.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Variables with the Bee

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (15 minutes)

Introduction

This series is a little different than what students have done in the past. Now, instead of simply assigning

a value to a variable and running your code, you'll need to help students see how a variable can be

modified during program runtime.

Display Show students the play area from one of the later puzzles.
There are several things to unpack here, so you might need to give your students a chance to look at it

critically before you expect them to do anything with it.

Think/Pair: What patterns do you notice in this puzzle? What are the differences between the flower

honeycomb patches at the beginning, middle, and end of the bee's path?

Share: Let students share their ideas.

Discuss: What are the ways we could program a solution to this puzzle? How could we use a variable to

have a loop do this for us?

Main Activity (30 minutes)

Variables with the Bee

This set of puzzles takes some serious computational thinking skills. If you find that students are getting

stuck, help them break down the puzzles into the individual pieces:

What would it look like if the flowers/honeycomb all had the same amount of nectar/honey?

Now how can you use a variable to get the quantities the way you want them?

 1-7 Skill Building

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

 8-10 Practice

8 9 10
Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

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.

Prompts:

What was today ’s lesson about?

How did you feel during today ’s lesson?

What are some ways you have used variables so far?

What else do you think you can do with variables?

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Lesson 26: For Loops with Bee

60 minutes

Overview Objectives

This skill-building lesson focuses on for loops and using Students will be able to:
an incrementing variable to solve more complicated
Determine starting value,
puzzles.
stopping value, and stepping

value for a for loop.

Purpose Recognize when to use a for loop

and when to use other loops such

Today's concept, for loops are a very important topic in
as repeat and while loops.
computer science. Not only are they widely used, the

process of learning for loops enhances the learning of

other important concepts (such as variables and

parameters.) Students will have plenty of practice

Preparation
critically thinking through problems by determining the
Play through the puzzles to find
starting, ending, and stepping values for each for loop.
any potential problem areas for
This concept uses plenty of math as well, so feel free to
your class.
pair it with a math lesson for an even deeper learning
Make sure every student has a
experience.
Reflection Journal.

Full Course Alignment

Standards Links
CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)

Heads Up! Please make a copy of

AP - Algorithms & Programming
any documents you plan to share

with students.

Agenda
For the students
Warm Up (15 minutes)
Unplugged Blocks (Courses C-F)
Introduction
 Make a Copy

Main Activity (30 minutes)

For Loops With Bee

Vocabulary
Wrap Up (15 minutes)
For Loop - Loops that have a
Reflection
predetermined beginning, end,

and increment (step interval).

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (15 minutes)

Introduction

Display a puzzle from the lesson. We recommend the prediction level because it displays a potential

solution and asks the user to evaluate it.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

For Loops With Bee

Online Puzzles

Some students may have a hard time differentiating between repeat loops and for loops. We

recommend having scratch paper out for students to make guesses on values like the start, stop, and

step. Implementing pair programming amongst the class might also be helpful for your students.

 1-2 Review

1 2

 3 Exploration: For Loops

 4 Video: For Loops

 5 Prediction

 6-8 Skill Building

6 7 8

 9-13 Practice

9 10 11 12 13

 14-15 Lesson Extras

 
Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

Prompts:

What was today ’s lesson about?

How did you feel during today ’s lesson?

How is a for loop different from a repeat loop?

Why do you think for loops could be useful?

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Lesson 27: For Loops with Artist

60 minutes

Overview Objectives

In this skill-building lesson, students practice “for” loops Students will be able to:
with Artist. Students will complete puzzles to create
Recognize when to use a for loop
complex designs and unique art.
and when to use other loops such

as repeat and while loops.

Purpose Use for loops to change loop

several times with different

Creativity and critical thinking come together beautifully
values.
in this lesson. Students will continue their practice with for

loops and variables while they create jaw-dropping

images. This lesson inspires a creative mind while

teaching core concepts to computer science.

Preparation

Play through the lesson to find

and potential problem areas for

Full Course Alignment
Standards your class.

Make sure every student has a

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)
Reflection Journal.
AP - Algorithms & Programming

Vocabulary

Agenda For Loop - Loops that have a

predetermined beginning, end,

Warm Up (15 minutes)
and increment (step interval).
Introduction

Main Activity (30 minutes)

For Loops with Artist

Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (15 minutes)

Introduction

On a board displayed to the entire class, draw (or display via projector) one of the final designs from

the Code Studio puzzles associated with this lesson. We recommend one of the following:
Ask the class how a computer might draw the drawing you displayed.

After a few predictions have been said, reply with for loops of course!

Tell the students they will soon be learning how to create these fine drawings using for loops and

variables.

Main Activity (30 minutes)

For Loops with Artist

 1 Video: For Loops

 Teaching Tip 

These puzzles are super fun, but it may be helpful for students to have protractors, pencils and

scratch paper to see how these designs were made in the physical form. If that isn't an option in

your class, try to get the students to trace on the computer screen with their fingers.

 2 Exploration

 3-7 Skill Building

3 4 5 6 7

 8 Free Play

 9-10 Lesson Extras

 
Wrap Up (15 minutes)

Reflection

Prompts:

What was today ’s lesson about?

How did you feel during today ’s lesson?

Draw one of the designs you made today. What was the code needed to create it?

What are some designs you would like to create? How do you think for loops or variables could help

create those?

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Lesson 28: End of Course Project

45 minutes

Overview Objectives

This project lesson takes students through the process of Students will be able to:
designing, developing, and showcasing new projects!
Overcome obstacles such as time

constraints or bugs.

Purpose

This lesson provides students with space to create a

Preparation
project of their own design, using a step-by-step process

that requires planning but also allows for broad creativity. Spend time making your own

project with both the project tools

available to students. Familiarize

Agenda yourself with the capabilities and

limitations of each tool.

Warm Up (10 minutes)
Modify the *rubric to fit your class
Planning
goals and print one copy for each
Main Activity (25 minutes)
student or group.
Coding
Modify the *project planning
Example Projects
guide to fit your class and print
Create your project
one for each student or group.

Wrap Up (10 minutes)

Showcase
Links

Heads Up! Please make a copy of

any documents you plan to share

with students.

For the teachers

CS Fundamentals Final Project -

Rubric  Make a Copy

Sprite Lab Documentation -

Resource

For the students

CSF Express End of Course

Project Planning Guide - Project

Guide  Make a Copy

Vocabulary

Define - Figure out the details of

the problems that you are trying

 to solve

Prepare - Research, plan, and

acquire materials for the activity

you are about to do

Reflect - Carefully think back on

something with the intention of

improving the outcome in the

future

Try - Attempt to do something

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (10 minutes)

Planning

Get students excited and ready for today's activity!

 Remarks
We have already had a chance to build a variety of projects. Today, this experience will be much more

open-ended, so it will require planning beforehand! Planning is a very important part of coding a

game or any other kind of software. So, before we jump onto computers, we will spend some time

planning the projects we want to build.

Distribute: Distribute one *End of Course Project Planning Guide to each student or pair. With

students, go over the steps listed on the guide, then allow them to complete it. Refer to the included

exemplar if needed.

 Teaching Tip 

If students are pair programming for this assignment, this warm up is a great opportunity for them

to practice sharing and respecting others' ideas. Ensure students are following group work norms

you already have in place in your classroom. Otherwise, spend a brief moment going over your

expectations.

Main Activity (25 minutes)

Coding

Equipped with their completed planning guides, students are now ready to bring their projects to life.

These levels correspond to the structure of the planning guide, and help navigate students through the

process of transforming their ideas into code.

 Teaching Tip 

Students will experience plenty of trial and error while coding. Their projects are likely to become

truncated versions of their original scope. Remind students that this kind of compromise is common

in software design. It's okay if they don't get to build in every feature they planned!
Example Projects

 1 Example Projects

Create your project

 2 Create your project

Wrap Up (10 minutes)

Showcase

To celebrate students' work, spend the last 10 minutes or so allowing them to showcase their projects.

This can be done in many ways, but here are a few:

Public Demo: Select a few exemplary volunteers to briefly demo their projects in front of the class.

As they do so, have them touch on what the planning-to-coding experience was like for them,

including ideas they'd still like to implement.

Pair Playtesting: Have students or groups pair up and playtest each other's projects. As they do,

ask them to provide positive and constructive feedback to each other. The benefit here is that

students will have the opportunity to provide and respond to feedback in a smaller setting.

Gallery Walk: Ensure all students have their projects ready for testing. Have students move

"musical chairs"-style to another computer and playtest the project there for a few minutes, until

they receive a signal from you to move to another computer. Repeat this every few minutes. While

there is less opportunity for structured communication here, this ensures students get to demo as

many of their peers' projects as possible.

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