Overview

Grades

K+ (Ages 4+)

Time

40 minutes per lab

Unit Essential Question(s)

What do I do when my robot does not do what I want it to do?

Unit Understandings

The following concepts will be covered throughout this Unit:

A bug is an error in a coding project that makes the robot not behave as intended.
Debugging is the process of identifying, finding and fixing a bug in a project to make it work as intended.
The Step button on the Coder can help us easily locate bugs in our projects.
That bugs in code are an opportunity to learn, and that debugging is an expected part of the coding process.

Lab Summary

Click on the following tabs for a summary of what the students will do and learn in each lab.

Lab 1 - Find and Fix the Bug

Students will view an example project that doesn't work as intended, and be introduced to the concept of a bug.
Students will work as a whole class to identify the bug in the example project and debug it using a series of three debugging steps - Identify, Find, Fix.
Students will be given another project that contains a bug, and work in their small groups to debug them using the debugging steps.
Students will share the bugs they found in their code, and how they fixed them.

Lab 2 - Step Up to the Bug

Students will build on what they learned in the previous lab by revisiting the same project from Play Part 2, this time with a different bug. They will use the Step button on the Coder to step through the project one behavior at a time as a whole class, in order to find the bug.
Students will be given another project that contains a bug, and use the Step button on the Coder in their groups to find and debug the project.
Students will share the bug they found, and how they used the Step button on the Coder to find and fix the bug.

Unit Standards

Unit Standards will be addressed in every Lab within the Unit.

Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA )

CSTA 1A-AP-14: Debug (identify and fix) errors in an algorithm or program that includes sequences and simple loops.

How Standard is Achieved: In Lab 1, Play Part 1, students are introduced to the concept of a bug, and what it means to debug a project. They work as a whole class to identify a bug in a coding project, and are introduced to a debugging process. They use this process to work together to fix the bug. In Play Part 2, students work in small groups to identify and fix a bug in an incorrect project using the debugging process.

In Lab 2, Students are introduced to the Step button on the Coder, and build on their experience in Lab 1 by engaging in a whole class project to find and debug a different bug in the same project that they worked with in Play Part 2 of Lab 1. In Play Part 2, they work in small groups to debug an incorrect project they have been given, this time using the Step button on the Coder to locate the bug.

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