LESSON PLANS:

Lesson 2 – Turn Around

In this lesson, students will continue to explore the CodeMonkey platform by completing five more challenges. Prior to
class, use the classroom dashboard to make sure all of your students have completed the first five challenges with
three stars. It is important that all students are on the same level and no one is behind.

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LESSON 2: Turn Around

Objectives

In this lesson, students will:

• Review what they learned in the previous
lesson
• Identify the different ways to use “turn”
instructions
• Complete challenges 6-10

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LESSON 2: Turn Around

Components

Instructions:
step x “turn” using
degrees, “step” backwards)
step -x (stepping backwards
Terms:
turn program, function,
left/right
times
argument, statement, object

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LESSON 2: Turn Around

U.S. Standards Addressed

CSTA-K12 Computer Science Standards

• 1B-AP-12 • 2-AP-10
• 1B-AP-15 • 2-AP-14
• 2-AP-16
• 2-AP-17

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 LESSON 2: Turn Around Part 1: 25 Minutes
Introduction
Review 5 mins.
Collect the homework.
Start with a brief class discussion on the previous lesson.
Ask them the following:
• What is coding?
• What instructions have we used so far? (step, turn)
• What is a programming language and which one do we use in CodeMonkey? (CoffeeScript)
Activity 5 mins.
Ask for three volunteers, giving each of them a role: one is the “Programmer,” one is the “Computer,” and the third is the
“Character.” Now ask the “Programmer” to instruct the “Computer” to lead the “Character” to an object you placed in the
classroom. Make sure the students use instructions properly (“step” with a number, “turn” left/right). As they go, write the
instructions on the board to remind the other students of what they have learned.
Repeat this activity with another group of three volunteers.
Discussion 3 mins.

Ask the students, “Why do you need both a computer and a character? Why can’t one person be both?”
If we compare programming to the human body, then the programmer is the brain that sends instructions to the different parts of
the body. The computer is responsible for making sure that the different parts of the body (“characters”) execute the instructions
exactly as instructed.
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LESSON 2: Turn Around Part 1: 25 Minutes
Introduction Cont.
Explanation (1) 2 mins.

Introduce your students to the term statement: an element that expresses some action to be carried out. A computer program is a
set of instructions that are simple tasks provided to the computer. These instructions are called statements. The instructions the
“Programmer” gave earlier to the “Computer” are statements. Statements can be anything from a simple line of code to a complex
set of conditions and formulas.

Explanation (2) 3 mins.

This lesson is about turning and walking backwards. There are three ways to make a character turn; the first is to use “turn right/left”
like we learned in the first lesson. In this lesson, we are introducing another way to turn.
Instead of turning right/left, we can turn by degrees. If your students have basic knowledge of degrees, such as a 360 degree turn or
a 90 degree turn, then make a quick review of that knowledge. Otherwise, provide a short introduction to degrees. Optional: use a
protractor.

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LESSON 2: Turn Around Part 1: 25 Minutes
Introduction Cont.

Explanation (3) 3 mins.

Objects are everything in the scene we can interact with, like the bush, bridge, banana, and turtle.
Each object has a set of actions it can do, like “step”, “turn”, or “turnTo” (we’ll learn about turnTo in the next lesson) for the monkey.
These actions are called functions, and the input we add to them is called an argument. For example in “turn 10”, the argument is 10.

Discussion 2 mins.

• Ask the class to give you an example for a statement and write it on the whiteboard (possible results: step 10, step 15, turn right,
turn left)
• Ask what is the function in this statement (step or turn)
• Ask what is the argument (10, 15, right or left)

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LESSON 2: Turn Around Part 1: 25 Minutes
Introduction Cont.
Explanation (4) 2 mins.

Understanding the concept of walking backwards is pretty easy. If we want to go forward 15 steps, we type “step 15”, and if we want
to go backwards, we type “step -15”. -15 will be read by the computer in this context just like “15 steps backwards”. If your students
are older (6th grade and above), this is a good opportunity to talk about negative numbers on the number line.

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LESSON 2: Turn Around Part 2: 15 Minutes
Playtime
Log-in 1 min.

Review log-in instructions here.

Playtime 2 mins.

All students should complete challenges 6-10 with at least two stars. (Students from the age of 12 and up should get three stars.)
Use the classroom dashboard to keep track of students’ achievements. Keep in mind that students might find turning with degrees
difficult. You may need to provide extra help in challenges 7 and 8. Use the walk-through below.

Walk-through 2 mins.

Open challenge 7 and show the animation about angles. Use the ruler to measure the distance between the monkey and banana.
Show how the ruler is also a protractor - it shows the number 45 which is the angle the monkey has to turn in order to face the
banana. Show that this is the same number in the code. Make sure your students understand how to use the ruler as a protractor.

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LESSON 2: Turn Around Part 2: 15 Minutes
Playtime Cont.
Explanation 2 mins.

Open the challenge map and show your students the skill mode tab. Explain that in skill mode students can play through more
challenges to perfect their coding skills. These extra challenges are great practice and they only unlock after students complete
certain challenges. Hover over a locked challenge to show the unlocking tip. The first skill challenges will open for your students after
they complete challenge 6. Let students know that if they finish early, they can go to skill mode and complete unlocked challenges.

Playtime 8 min.

Students should continue working on levels 6-10. In challenges 8, yours students can use either “turn left” or “turn 90” to get three
stars. Some of your students will probably use “turn left”. Make sure to emphasize that they can also use “turn 90” for the same
result.

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LESSON 2: Turn Around Part 2: 15 Minutes
Playtime Cont.
Practice

Encourage students who finish early to open skill mode on the map and complete unlocked challenges.
After completing challenges 6-10, all of world 1 (First Steps) skill challenges are unlocked (1-1 – 1-11).

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 LESSON 2: Turn Around Part 3: 5 Minutes
Debriefing

Review (1) 2 mins.

Check your students’ understanding of turning with degrees. Ask your class to stand up and instruct them to “turn 90”, “turn 120”,
and “turn 360”.
Repeat the explanation of turning by degrees – the code “turn” followed by a number of degrees turns the monkey by that number.
For example, turn 90 turns the monkey the same as turn left.

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 LESSON 2: Turn Around Part 3: 5 Minutes
Debriefing Cont.
Review (2) 2 mins.

Check your students’ understanding of walking backwards.

Stand with your back to the door and ask, “If I were the monkey what would be the right instruction to get me to the door?”. Emphasize
that it should be one instruction and not involve turning. Make sure their answer includes “step negative X”.
Repeat the explanation of stepping backwards. To step backwards a number of steps, add the negative sign (-) before the number. For
example: step -10. The computer reads -10 in this context just like “10 steps backwards”.

Assignment 1 min.

Due next lesson, ask your students to include degrees in the navigation instructions from their homes to the school.

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