Intro to Programming with Tracy the Turtle and micro:bit

In this lesson, students are introduced to coding with turtle graphics. Students will begin to recognize programs as sequences and groups of commands. Students will learn a few basic commands and then apply them right away by writing their first program.

In this lesson, students will be introduced to the layout of Tracy’s grid world and will learn how to use coordinate pairs to locate Tracy on the coordinate plane. They will add to the list of commands they know and can use to create Tracy graphics.

In this lesson, students will learn how to use the left and right commands in order to move Tracy to more locations on the canvas. They will now have many commands that can be used to have Tracy create more complex graphics.

In this lesson, students are introduced to for loops. They learn how for loops simplify the process of making small changes to a program and help avoid repeating code. For loops are written like this:

for i in range (4):
    // Code to be repeated 4 times

In this lesson, students are introduced to the ability to turn Tracy at any angle. With this feature, Tracy can now draw diagonal lines which opens up the possibility to draw multiple shapes that weren’t previously available.

In this lesson, students learn how to use comments to describe their programs. Comments are helpful because they allow programmers to leave notes about the programs they are writing. Students will also learn about the different types of comments that can be used and the benefits of using them.

In this short lesson, students will be introduced to the rules for naming elements in their code. Variables and functions that are used inside their programs will be named by students, so the following guidelines should be obeyed to be sure that the programs written are readable and successful.

In this lesson, students are introduced to functions. They start with the basics of defining a function and why we need them and will revisit a program they coded earlier in the unit to rewrite it using functions.

In this lesson, students are able to add some flair to their turtle graphics programs by controlling color, pensize, and fill. These new commands are added to the list of commands that have been already practiced in order to allow for more creativity in student programs.

In this lesson, students are introduced to the concept of Top Down Design. Top Down Design is the process of breaking down a program into functions or smaller parts to avoid repeated code and to make our programs more readable.

In this lesson, students will learn about a fundamental aspect of every programming language: Variables. A variable is something that stores information in a program that can be used later.

In this lesson, students will learn how to incorporate user input into their programs. Students will learn how to request user input as both strings and integers, where the input is stored, and how to convert strings and integers.

In this lesson, students will dive deeper into the concept of functions by exploring how to use parameters to customize their code.

In this lesson, students will expand their knowledge of for loops. They are aware that for loops execute the same lines of code a given number of times but will learn that i is actually a variable that can be used to control commands inside the loop as it is running.

In this lesson, students will learn the extended parameters that can be used to control the value of i in for loops. They will then be able to use the variable i to control much more of their code by setting specific values.

In this first lesson, students will be introduced to their micro:bit device and the MakeCode editor, where they will build and test programs throughout the course. They will also be guided through the process to download programs from the editor to their device and will learn a few basic commands to get started writing micro:bit programs.

In this lesson, students will take a deeper look at developing, testing, and running programs on the micro:bit simulator and on their devices. They will learn how the 5x5 grid system is laid out and will utilize more commands to light specific LEDs on the screen.

In this lesson, students will learn about comments and pseudocode, why they are important, and how they help organize and plan programs. They will also learn the basic difference between analog and digital components and how to use the plotBrightness and clearScreen commands in their programs.

In this lesson, students will build their first physical circuit using their micro:bit devices. They will learn to use variables to control components, along with the analogWritePin and digitalWritePin commands.

In this lesson, students review content with a 15 question Unit Quiz.

In this lesson, students will learn how to use If Statements which will allow them to use conditions to determine how their code should run.

In this lesson, students will learn how to expand on If Statements by including a way to have Tracy make decisions between multiple scenarios.

In this lesson, students will learn that while loops allow code to be executed repeatedly based on a condition. They will also be warned that infinite loops are created if the exit condition of the while loop is never met, causing the code inside the while loop to repeat continuously which causes the program to crash.

In this lesson, students will connect a speaker to their physical circuit to play music using their micro:bit! They will learn to use for loops to control components, along with the playNote command.

In this lesson, students will learn how to use the built-in buttons to control their programs and will learn to use while loops to control components.

In this lesson, students will learn about sensors and why they are so important in physical computing. They will use various internal sensors to detect attributes of the micro:bit’s environment and write programs that will complete certain tasks based on these values.

In this lesson, students will connect a micro servo motor to their physical circuit and control its location using their device. They will learn to use conditionals to control components, along with the servoWritePin command.

In this lesson, students will use their first external sensor, an ultrasonic range finder, to measure distance and control components in the programs. They will develop and use functions with and without parameters to more clearly organize their code and make it more reusable.

In this lesson, students review content with a 14 question Unit Quiz.

In this lesson, students will put together all the concepts they’ve learned thus far. They will be able to use top down design and to write programs that will solve complex problems.

In this lesson, students review content with a 25 question End-of-Unit Quiz.

In this lesson, students will learn why and how breadboards are used to build more complex circuits. They will experiment with different built-in Gestures and will use all of the concepts they’ve learned up to this point to complete their first larger projects- a digital watch and an Inchworm.

In this lesson, students will research, develop, and present a lesson to their peers on the use of a new sensor with their micro:bit devices.

Students will get a chance to follow instructions written by someone they’ve never met to replicate a project in this lesson. They will then evaluate and improve these directions to make them more effective for a target audience.

In this final lesson, students will put together all of the concepts learned throughout the course to create a project of their choice. They will work individually, or with partners or groups to creatively develop a program of their choosing.