Sending a rocket to Mars
Children program a 'rocket' to cross a floor grid, using clear instructions and debugging with three roles.
Steps
- Ask: why is it important to give very clear instructions? Share a time when instructions were unclear.
- Make a grid and mark the target. One child is the rocket (the Bot), one is the Programmer, one is the Tester.
- Agree on the commands: arrows for forward, turn left, turn right.
- The Programmer writes the whole program first. The Bot cannot be steered halfway.
- The Tester reads the program out. The Bot follows it. Did the rocket reach Mars?
- Debug: find what went wrong and change the program. Swap roles and try a harder route.
Talk about it
- What was the hardest bug to find?
- Why not just steer the rocket step by step?
- What instructions would a real rocket need?
CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from CS Unplugged by the University of Canterbury Computer Science Education Research Group (CS Unplugged), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Original lesson, with pictures · License: CC BY-SA 4.0
There are no pictures here. The original lesson has the pictures and printables.
Changes made: Simplified, shortened and translated by Open Cosmos with AI
This adapted lesson is shared under the same license (CC BY-SA 4.0).