Computer Control in KS2
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QCA 4E Section 1: Setting the scene Children should learn that a turtle can be moved on screen in a similar As a starter reintroduce the floor turtle to the children. If possible fit a pen and ask the children to write a program to draw a square. Alternatively, set up four skittles on the corners of a square and program the turtle to move around the internal 'walls', without knocking over the skittles. Discuss with the children this and previous floor turtle exercises and tease out the limitations. Softease Turtle Introduce the children to the screen turtle. A good starter 'FirstLogo' can be found under the File menu and choose Examples.../ This template is an ideal first level as it contains only the basic control elements. Four buttons on the bottom left of the screen control the turtle movement and to the right are icons for Pen Up/Pen Down/Home and Clear. The pre set turn angle is 45 degrees, and the turtle travel is roughly three turtle lengths. See screen shot below.
Demonstrate to the children the turtle moving and drawing on the screen while introducing the Pen Up/Down and Clear commands. Draw a square and discuss with the children the different step size of a screen turtle and a floor turtle. Note what happens if the screen turtle attempts to leave the screen work area. Ask the children to draw a basic shape. Annotate the work with a label and a list of of instructions, and Save to disk. See example above. Challenge Load the Maze template from File/Examples... and move the Turtle to the finish position. Return to the Home position without drawing a line. Create an instructions list and print.
Introducing the the Keypad The Keypad accessed from the Turtle menu has three coloured levels which give children much more control over the programming. you may wish to use this as an intermediate stage before moving to the Command line option for the following QCA task.
For further information on setting the scene, visit... http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes2/it/itx4e/04eq1?view=get |
way to the floor turtle and understand the logo language.