{"id":5904,"date":"2021-02-18T17:02:13","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T22:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=5904"},"modified":"2021-02-18T18:50:36","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T23:50:36","slug":"thats-a-fine-way-to-draw-a-triangle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=5904","title":{"rendered":"That’s a Fine Way to Draw a Triangle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Clever Computing for Kids<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Documentation from Session #2<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Setting: <\/strong>Dr. Gary Stager is leading a class of 4th graders in the Southeast of the United States from his home near Los Angeles via Zoom. He is projected in the front of the room and students each have a laptop running Turtle Art<\/a>. The students are together in a physical classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prompt<\/strong>: Program the turtle to draw a triangle with three equal sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teacher then gave students time to work on solving the challenge before asking for kids to share their approach to solving the problem (in the form of a Turtle Art<\/a> program).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Student<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Turtle Art program<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

FORWARD 100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FORWARD 100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RIGHT 100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RIGHT 100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow run RIGHT 100 RIGHT 100 again\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cand again\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen FORWARD 100 FORWARD 100 again\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RIGHT 100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RIGHT 100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cthree times\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FORWARD 100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FORWARD 100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RIGHT 100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RIGHT 100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RIGHT 100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RIGHT 100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RIGHT 100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RIGHT 100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The student is not yet thinking at the pattern or procedural level and is using a lot of repeated addition. The instructions for each of the triangle\u2019s sides were conceptually grouped by the time she shared her approach with the class.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a little coaxing from me, the student began seeing that FORWARD 100 FORWARD 100 could be simplified as FORWARD 200.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeing RIGHT 100 RIGHT 100 three times was more difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A nice feature of the Web-based version of Turtle Art is that you can watcht the silly turtle turning\/spinning a lot and tiring itself out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other students saw a pattern that led to the creation of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

REPEAT 3 [FORWARD 100 RIGHT 600]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The use of RIGHT 600 was selected after<\/em> I asked students \u201cShould the turtle turn less than or more than 90?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, there was a tepid consensus that the turn should be greater than that for a square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I asked, \u201cWhat number do you think the turn will then be less than?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few students reported, \u201c180,\u201d because that\u2019s a U-Turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Diagram\n\nDescription<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n