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Course 4 | Lesson 15

Play Lab: Functions with Parameters


Lesson time: 30 Minutes

Lesson Overview

Having experienced the creation and use of functions and parameters, students will get the opportunity to use the skill in the creation of Play Lab games. Later puzzles incorporate the use of multiple parameters.

Teaching Summary

Getting Started

Introduction

Activity: Play Lab: Functions with Parameters

Artist: Play Lab with Parameters

Lesson Objectives

Students will:

  • Identify repeated movements and utilize functions to simplify a program
  • Utilize parameters to make one function work for multiple purposes
  • Adapt their understanding of functions to allow for the use of multiple parameters

Getting Started

Introduction

While the students will have had some experience creating functions with parameters in earlier stages, this Play Lab stage adds the complexity of using multiple parameters inside a single function. This is a great opportunity to remind students that it is okay to get frustrated and to use trial and error as an effective learning tool.

Connections and Background Information

PARCC / Smarter Balanced Assessment Skills

  • Click / tap
  • Drag and drop
  • Select object
  • Select and drag / slide
  • Use video player

ISTE Standards (formerly NETS)

  • 1a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
  • 1b. Create original works as means of personal or group expression
  • 1c. Use models and simulation to explore complex systems and issues
  • 4b. Plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project
  • 6a. Understand and use technology systems
  • 6c. Troubleshoot systems and applications
  • 6d. Transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards

  • CT.L1:3-01 Use technology resources (e.g., puzzles, logical thinking programs) to solve age appropriate problems
  • CL.L1:3-02 Work cooperatively and collaboratively with peers teachers, and others using technology
  • CT.L1:6-01 Understand and use the basic steps in algorithmic problem-solving
  • CT.L2-01 Use the basic steps in algorithmic problem solving to design solutions
  • CT.L2-06 Describe and analyze a sequence of instructions being followed
  • CT.L2-07 Represent data in a variety of ways: text, sounds, pictures, numbers
  • CT.L2-12 Use abstraction to decompose a problem into sub problems
  • CT.L2-14 Examine connections between elements of mathematics and computer science including binary numbers, logic, sets, and functions
  • CT.L3A-03 Explain how sequence, selection, iteration, and recursion are building blocks of algorithms
  • CPP.L1:6-05 Construct a program as a set of step-by-step instructions to be acted out
  • CPP.L1:6-06 Implement problem solutions using a block-based visual programming language
  • CPP.L2-08 Demonstrate dispositions amenable to open-ended problem solving and programming

Next-Gen Science Standards

  • 3-5-ETS1-2 Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem

Common Core Mathematical Practices

  • 1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them
  • 2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively
  • 4. Model with mathematics
  • 6. Attend to precision
  • 7. Look for and make use of structure
  • 8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning

Common Core Math Standards

  • 4.NBT.B.4 Fluently add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm

Common Core Language Arts Standards

  • L.3.6 Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships
  • L.4.6 Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal precise actions, emotions, or states of being and that are basic to a particular topic
  • L.5.6 Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal contrast, addition, and other logical relationships