Lesson 9
Coin Counting Algorithms
Students will use the Bee-Bot to create multiple programs that each result in the same sum of money. They will need to decompose the amount into different coin groupings, then navigate the Bee-Bot from one coin to the next. Students will utilize a planning worksheet instead of command cards to plan for these challenges.
Agenda
- Ask: How did your team decompose a problem last class?
- Review: Bee-Bot Team Roles (optional)
- Activity: Coin Counting Algorithms
- Reflection & Close-Out:
- When you wrote 2 programs for the same amount of money, did one program work better? Why?
- What is important to do to write a good program for your Bee-Bot? What makes it a good program?
Materials
- Bee-Bots, 1 for each group of 4 students
- Bee-Bot mats, 1 per robot used
- US Coins mat cards (18 cards per set)
- Planning worksheet
- 🌶Spicy challenge planning worksheet (optional)
- Bee-Bot team roles lanyards
Vocabulary
debug: find and fix errors (bugs) in programs
decomposition: breaking down a problem into smaller pieces
program: a set of instructions written in a language that a computer understands
sequence: a set of instructions that follow one another in order
Additional Resources
- VIDEO: Counting Coins song (3:33)
- Yellow Bee-Bot Command Cards (1 set per Bee-Bot being used) small / large
- Bee-Bot Algorithm Planning sheet created by Owen Peery, Alamo Elementary
- Blue-Bot Instructional Guide
- Bee-Bot Team Roles poster letter / tabloid
- Technology Brain Break: choose a video from this list!
Standards
CA CSS: K-2.AP.12 Create programs with sequences of commands and simple loops, to express ideas or address a problem.
CA CSS: K-2.AP.13 Decompose the steps needed to solve a problem into a sequence of instructions.
CA CSS: K-2.AP.14 Develop plans that describe a program's sequence of events, goals, and expected outcomes.
CA CSS: K-2.AP.16 Debug errors in an algorithm or program that includes sequences and simple loops.