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Notes for teachers

This lesson took place in a 1st grade gifted pull-out classroom for 60 minutes.
This is an unplugged coding activity. This activity could be completed with the robot of the teacher’s choice, if they would like.

My Robot of Choice: Botley the Robot

Botley the Robot kits include arrow cards to help students make a plan for how they would like their robot to move

Alternative Robot Options: Code and Go Robot Mouse, Bee-Bots, Dot and Dash Robots

Prior Knowledge of Computer Science (sequences) is recommended, but not necessary, for this lesson.
If you choose to use robots instead of completing this as an unplugged coding activity, I encourage you to provide an opportunity for students to explore with robots before they use robots for this lesson.

List of Materials:

National Geographic Kids: Caterpillar to Butterfly, by Laura Marsh (1 per student recommended)
Poster paper and markers for KWL chart
Butterfly Life Cycle Photos for unplugged coding activity
Rubric: Coding the Life Cycle of a Butterfly
Scotch Masking Tape (I prefer blue painter’s tape as it comes off the floor easily)

Use the tape to create an 6x6 grid on the floor. The grid needs to be large enough for students to be able step into and stand safely.
Alternatively, you can draw a grid on a piece of butcher paper for each group if you are unable to use tape on your floor.

Optional: This activity could be completed with robots instead of as an unplugged activity, but the teacher would need to modify, as appropriate.

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Arizona Science Standards

1.L1U1.6: Observe, describe, and predict life cycles of animals and

plants.

Arizona Computer Science Standards

1.AP.A.1: Model daily processes by following algorithms (sets of step-by-step instructions) to complete tasks.

1.AP.C.1: Identify programs with sequences and simple loops, to express ideas or address a problem.

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Objectives:

Students will work with a team to accomplish a simple coding task: complete the life cycle of a butterfly.

Students will practice giving precise instructions as they work to develop a program that will direct a classmate across their grid to accurately complete the life cycle of a butterfly.

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Agenda (60 minutes)

Introduction (5 minutes)
Life Cycle of the Butterfly (20 minutes)

What are the four stages of a butterfly’s life cycle?

Computer Science Activity (30 minutes)

Let’s code the life cycle of a butterfly!

Closure (5 minutes)

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Introduction

How many of you have seen a butterfly flying outside before?

Has one ever landed on you before?

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What do you know about butterflies?

What do you wonder about them?

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Today, we are going to learn about the life cycle of the butterfly.

There are four stages in the life cycle of the butterfly.

As we read our book, we are going to learn what each stage is and why it is important.

When we’re done, we’ll fill in what we’ve learned on the “Learned” section of our KWL chart.

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Hands-on Activity Instructions

Each group of 2-3 students will need:

Life Cycle of Butterfly Images (each group only needs one image for each stage of the life cycle. I have provided multiple images so that different groups can have different images).
6x6 grid on the floor created using tape. The grid needs to be large enough for students to be able to step into each square and stand safely.

If you are unable to create a grid on your classroom floor using tape, you could draw a grid on butcher paper for each group of students.

Groups will take turns fulfilling the following roles:

Placing the four images representing the stages of the lifecycle of the butterfly randomly onto the 6x6 grid.
Giving step-by-step instructions on how to traverse the grid to visit each image in order of the butterfly’s life cycle
Traversing the grid following the directions of the teammates who are giving the directions.

The teacher will move throughout the classroom, interacting with students and asking them questions about their unplugged coding activity, helping them troubleshoot as needed.

Example of what the grid might look like when it is set up:

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Assessment

Rubric: Coding the Life Cycle of a Butterfly

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Differentiation

Students in need of more help may use arrow cards to help them plan what moves they will tell their partner to make. Planning the moves together, in advance, will help them feel more confident in the commands they give their partner as they traverse the grid.

Students can also approach the challenge one step at a time, first working to reach the first stage of the life cycle successfully before moving on the second stage.

Remediation

Extension/Enrichment

Students ready for more of a challenge can think about other life cycles they have learned about and code the life cycle of a different animal.

Students can code their own life, adding significant life events instead of stages of the life cycle, and writing out the directions on how to move, in order, through their life/the grid.