Lesson 5: Iteration

In this lesson, we’ll explore ways to make things repeat. You might repeat actions in a program to have a certain effect, or you might use repetition to accomplish the same task in a smaller number of steps. We’ll introduce you to the Agent, your own personal robot who can accomplish tasks for you like building a farm, and we’ll create some original dance moves so your Agent can get down and dance on the floor. Finally, we’ll challenge you to write your own program to direct your Agent to do something cool.

* You can also watch this video here.

Lesson structure

• Overview: Why learn iteration?
• Unplugged Activity: Everyday Tasks
• Unplugged Activity 2: Walk Around the House
• Minecraft Activity 1: Introduction to the Agent
• Minecraft Activity 2: Dance Dance Agent
• Minecraft Activity 3: Help Agent Farmer
• Minecraft Activity 4: One Block at a Time
• Project: Dig a staircase
• Assessment: Rubric
• Standards: Listed

Lesson plan

1. Overview: Why learn iteration?
2. Unplugged: Everyday Tasks
3. Unplugged: Walk Around the House
4. Activity: Introduction to the Agent
5. Activity: Dance Dance Agent
6. Activity: Help Agent Farmer
7. Activity: One Block at a Time
8. Independent Project

Flipgrid

The Flipgrid topic for the Iteration lesson: https://flipgrid.com/8f9826c0

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards

Targeted standards for this lesson:

• CL.L2-05 - Implement problem solutions using a programming language, including: looping behavior, conditional statements logic, expressions, variables, and functions.
• CL.L3A-03 - Explain how sequence, selection, iteration, and recursion are building blocks of algorithms.