Lesson plan (session 1) 08/11/2018 Computing

Pre-assessment: Plickers Activity 1: Unplugged Introduction to Microbit Activity 2: Journey Book Plenary
15 mins 15mins 15mins 30mins 15mins
Use ‘Plickers’ (quiz) to Divide the children into 4 Introduce the microbit. Children in the same Each group will be given
assess the children’s groups. What can the microbit groups as activity 1. Each about 5 minutes to
understanding. Using the do? group to have a program their chickbot to
results of the quiz we can Children to use their designated teacher. do anything they like. The
determine the areas that knowledge of algorithms, AFL: Children to discuss teacher will then run a
need discussing in more sequencing and logical with a partner 1 thing the Each group will be given gallery walk that will give
depth. reasoning to guide their microbit can do and a: Journey book, a map, a each group the
designated teacher from feedback to the group. microbit, a chickbot and a opportunity to show the
Knowledge of terms such point (a) to point (b), Teachers to listen out for laptop. They will need to rest of the class what
as: Alogorithm, performing a task (pour a rich computing language work their way through they have done and
sequencing, Input, glass of water) along the and understanding. the journey book explain how they did it.
output, debugging, logical way. completing the tasks that
resoning and Introduce the chickbot. allow them to AFL: Do you think you
decomposition to be AFL: Could you perform How can we use the successfully navigate the would have been able to
assessed. the same move with less microbit to control the chickbot from the start to make it do that at the
instructions? chickbot? the finish of the map. The beginning of the lesson?
tasks will become
How did you know where AFL: Children to sit in a increasingly more
you went wrong? circle and discuss in pairs. challenging.
Teacher will then use a
programmed chickbot to EXT: There will be an
randomly select a pair to optional bonus challenge
give their answer. The on each page to extend
teacher will then allow the children’s learning.
the other pairs the
opportunity to add to the
answer.
Lesson plan (session 1) 08/11/2018 Computing

Links to national curriculum

 design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating
physical systems; solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts
 use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs; work with variables and various forms of input and
output
 use logical reasoning to explain how some simple algorithms work and to detect and correct errors in
algorithms and programs

What is an Algorithm?
If we want to tell a computer to do something, we have to write a computer program that will tell the computer, step-by-step, exactly
what we want it to do and how we want it to do it. This step-by-step program will need planning, and to do this we use an
algorithm.

Why is Sequencing important?

It is crucial that the steps in an algorithm are performed in the right order - otherwise the algorithm will not work correctly.
Suppose the steps for the teeth-cleaning algorithm were in this sequence:

1. use toothbrush to clean teeth

2. put toothpaste on toothbrush
3. rinse toothbrush
A toothbrush would still be used to clean the teeth and toothpaste would still be put on the brush. But because steps 1 and 2 are in
the wrong sequence the teeth wouldn’t get cleaned with the toothpaste, and the toothpaste would be wasted.
Lesson plan (session 1) 08/11/2018 Computing

A human would realise they had forgotten to add toothpaste at the start of the process, but a computer would not know that
anything was wrong.

What is Debugging?
Programmers write computer programs in a language we call code. However, because no one is perfect, computer
programmers sometimes make mistakes when writing their code. These mistakes are known as ‘bugs’.

Syntax bugs
A syntax bug is an error caused by something the programmer has typed – it could be a spelling mistake or a
command that the computer doesn’t understand.

Logical bugs
A logical bug is an error which means that even though the computer is able to carry out its instructions, it doesn’t act
as the programmer intended or the user expects.

What is Decomposition?
Decomposition is when we break a problem down into smaller parts to make it easier to tackle.

What is Logical Reasoning?

Logical reasoning is the process of applying rules to problem solving. Algorithms are designed as a set of steps to follow to
solve a problem. At the same time, a set of rules is determined. For example, selection is based on rules:

1. if a condition is met, do this

2. if not, do that
These rules govern the path that is followed through the algorithm.