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Rescue Mission

ages 5-7 30 minestimate Screen-free lesson

Children act as programmer, tester and robot on a floor grid, and learn why clear step-by-step instructions matter.

Steps

  1. Make a floor grid and put an object to rescue on one square.
  2. Choose three roles: the Developer who writes the program, the Tester who reads it out, and the Bot who follows it.
  3. Decide the commands: an arrow for forward, and left and right turns.
  4. The Developer writes the whole program first. The Bot cannot be steered while it walks.
  5. The Tester reads the commands one at a time and the Bot moves. Does the Bot reach the object?
  6. If not, find the bug together and fix the program. Debugging is part of the fun.
  7. Swap roles and try a new rescue.

Talk about it

  • Why must instructions be very clear?
  • When did you get unclear instructions in real life?
  • What was the bug and how did you fix it?

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).