Roll ‘n’ Code

Part 1: Quilt Square Creations

• Project Appendix A and engage students in a discussion about which code matches the design on the left. The code for the example starts in the left-most box. Remind students that codes are read and written from left to right, top to bottom.
• Each student will work with their own coding square (Appendix B).
  • Teachers should choose the coding square option most appropriate for their students.
  • Coding squares with more tiles will increase difficulty for students.
• Show Slide 3 of Appendix A. Use the footnotes or the lesson plan to instruct students how to complete the activity.
• Have students start by rolling the die to determine how many squares to colour in. The number on the die represents the number of squares the student will colour. Have students start with blue, continue with red, then green, then yellow.
• The student will continue rolling the die until all the squares are filled by a colour.
  • If students are left with blank squares, have them continue rolling the die until all squares are coloured. Use the same order of colours as before (blue, red, green, then yellow.)
• Advance the slideshow to slide 4.
• When the squares are coloured in, have students design a code on the command sheet (Appendix C) to provide instructions on how to replicate their coding square. Students can add boxes and numbers to their command sheet as necessary. Have students begin their code in a designated area (i.e., top left-hand square.)
  • An example of coding language that can be used is found in Appendix C.
  • The programmer can write the code in two ways, yet keep the same meaning:
    • Use only symbols (e.g., →|→, to signify two squares to the right).
    • Use numbers and symbols (e.g., 2 →, to signify two squares to the right)
  • Encourage the programmer to find the simplest way to write their code.
    • Ask students to share strategies on the simplest or most efficient way to write code.
  • When the code is complete, have students write their name or an identifiable symbol on the back of their code and quilting square.

Part 2: Quilt Square Recreation

• Students should be provided with a new, blank coding square.
• Students will pair up and exchange coding instructions.
• Using the coding instructions from their partner, students will recreate their partner’s coding square.
• When both partners have finished recreating their partner’s coding square, students will bring out the originals to compare.
  • Encourage students to work cooperatively using coding language to recreate the correct coding square from the code. Emphasize it is not a competition, but the task is to master creating and interpreting the correct code to excel in the challenge.

Part 3: Mix and Match

• Instruct students to hand in their coding squares and coding instructions. Place the coding squares and coding instructions into groups of 6, ensuring that the matching code and square remain in the same group.
• Arrange students into groups of 6.
• Place six corresponding coding squares and instructions, face up on a surface (i.e., a table, the floor, around the room, etc.)
  • The coding squares may need to be taped down so students cannot flip the square to find the matching name or symbol to the code.
• Once each group has matched the code with its corresponding coding square, have students circulate tables to see if they can match another group of six codes.
  • Encourage collaboration and discussion between students.

Conclusion:

• Create a large class display of coding squares using the smaller coding squares, organized by a mathematical concept of choice (i.e., biggest area covered by a colour, fraction of coding square coloured in blue, etc.)
• Once the coding display is created, challenge groups of students to create code to represent the class’ large quilt.