As I come to the end of my Scratch unit and I start reflecting on what I will keep or change I am also thinking about the differentiation possible with coding. Over the years one assignment that I have used, when teaching Java and Scratch, is a slope assignment.
You can find this and more at this site (Computational Thinking-Google)
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Create a program that allows a user to input the x and y coordinates of two points.
The program should take the information and calculate the y-intercept and the equation of the line connecting the two points.
Remember y=mx+b.
Bonus: Can you graph a portion of the line?
Part B
Create a program that allows a user to input the length and width of a rectangle. The program should take the information and calculate the area and perimeter of the rectangle.
Bonus:Make the program also draw the rectangle.
Remember to break your work into small segments – multiple procedures”]This is the Assignment from my class iBook[/su_expand]
Two different ways for me to assess if a student understood how procedures, using custom blocks, could be used. Although it shouldn’t, it always surprises me how engaged the students become when asked to apply what they have learned in Math and explore it in a deeper level than:
Find the slope of the line that passes through the points (-1 , 0) and (3 , 8).
Anyhow, some students picked Part B some Part A.
Some were able to finish Part A but not draw the line. Some finished Part A and were able to draw the line connecting the two points. They then asked what next?
I asked:
Can you program in boundaries so that the user can not input points outside of the graph min and max values?
Can you check for division by zero?
Back they went to figure out how.
Sample work from one group.
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