OBJECTIVE:  After today's class I will be able to:

• Complete levels in the game LightBot
• Explain why computer programs are written in specialized languages
• Log into SNAP

WORDS O' THE DAY:

• computer ("a high speed idiot") -- Sort of like the individual sentences and paragraphs that make up each chapter
• program ("instructions written by humans to accomplish a specific computer task")
• programming language ("?")

WORK O' THE DAY: 

1. Review Opening Question ~5 min

A computer program is often defined as:

• a sequence of instructions or steps, written in a language that can be understood by a computer, that will be used by the computer to complete a task or solve a problem

We spoke about this briefly last week but just to recollect, what are different sorts of programming languages you know or have heard of?

• There is a difference between a "proper programming languages" and other types of languages (such as markup languages e.g. HTML)... any idea what those might be?

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ACTIVITIES -- Work on these at home if you need to

 

Lightbot algorithm tool/practice -- Please take *about* 30 minutes here

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Let's take a look at SNAP

Logging on to SNAP (directions are HERE)

Take a look at the various snap coding options. Notice that they are color coded (that's not by accident!)

Take a few moments to click through those options. There are a number of subtle (and not so subtle) differences between the commands there. See how many you can find...

Work with your group to make a list of those now.

Creating and sharing a SNAP probject (directions are HERE).

Take a moment to write a SNAP program that says "HELLO WORLD" for 4 seconds and then share it to our classroom discussion document (you'll have to find that)

ACTIVITY: 

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TAKEAWAYS:

Keep in mind that writing even the most basic computer program can be VERY frustrating. Be ready for that....

HOMEWORK (as needed):

CLOSING TASK: