LESSON PLAN 4

Activity : TURTLE STORY

Class level : Year 6
Time Suggested : 60 minutes
Materials : 1 computer for 2 pupils

Objectives:
a) Pupils should be able to practice on how to command the Turtle on the screen.
b)

Preparations:

1. Teacher draws a diagram using PC Logo. It could be a rocket, a house etc.. For
this lesson plan I drew a car as below.

COMMANDS FOR ‘COMMANDER WINDOW’

? RT 90 ? FD 60
? FD 120 ? LT 90
? RT 90 ? FD 100
? REPEAT 360 [FD 1 LT 2] ? RT 55
? REPEAT 90 [FD 1 LT 2] ? FD 90
? RT 90 ? LT 55
? FD 180 ? FD 150
? RT 90 ? LT 40
? REPEAT 360 [FD 1 LT 2] ? FD 90
? REPEAT 90 [FD 1 LT 2] ? RT 25
? RT 90 ? FD 80
? FD 50 ? LT 60
? LT 90 ? FD 56
2. Then, create a story about a turtle. For this lesson, I got the idea from the
animation movie called ‘Chicken Run’. In the story, Ginger, Bunty, Babs and
Fowler are chickens who are trapped on Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy’s farm and
desperately want to escape. If they don't produce any eggs for the week, Mr and
Mrs Tweedy will have their heads.

However, in my story, I change the plot of the story to suite with the diagram I
drawn earlier with PC Logo. So, I created a story about a turtle called Explo, who
wanted to run away from his family to live in town and meet people (Refer to
Appendix I)

Other ideas that I could suggest here is to create story about turtle being:
• a detective
• an inventor

3. To carry out this lesson, pupils should already learn the basic commands for PC
Logo.

Teaching Procedures:

1. Begin the lesson by revising briefly on:

• some basic commands for PC Logo;
• the North, East, South and West directions on the computer screen;
• the right turn and the left turn of the turtle.

2. Distribute the story in Appendix I to all the pupils. Ask four pupils to read the
story, one paragraph for each pupil.

3. Instruct pupils to draw Explo’s (the turtle) journey using PC Logo. Before they
start, teacher emphasizes the following:
• The journey starts from paragraph 3 onwards.
• The limitation of the story is that, the exact size of the complete turn and the
half turn can not be described in the story. Pupils may be told to draw small
circle. However, a small change of size of the circle may distort the whole
diagram Therefore, teacher should give the command
 REPEAT 360 [FD 1 LT 2] - for complete turn
 REPEAT 90 [FD 1 LT 2] - for half turn
• I cm in the story represents 1 unit in PC Logo. So, if the story says move
forward 20 cm, in PC Logo – you command FD 20. The degree in the story
represents the same degree in PC Logo.

4. Give them approximately 20 minutes to draw the path using PC Logo. When
finish, pupils print their diagrams and paste them on the white board, in front of
class.
5. Let the pupils gather in front of the board and bring with them the printed “Turtle
Run”. Discuss:
• Which diagrams are correct?
• What are their strategies to complete the task?
Expected answers:
 Use clue words from the story such as in paragraph one, in the text “At the
beach, Explo faces east and start moving...” shows that, the turtle should
be right turn 90o (RT 90) from its original place facing north.
 It will be easier to do if they imagine them themselves to be the turtle.
 They may be using parts of their bodies to show directions etc..
 APPENDIX I

TUTRLE RUN

A young turtle called Explo landed on the beach with his family. The name is given to
him because of his curiosity and his passion to explore things. At the beach, his is
warned by his family not to go beyond the beach. However, today, he is planning to run
away from his family because he wants to go to town. His father told him that he and his
mother once live in a zoo in town before they were released back to the sea. Everyday,
they were given fresh food like meat and vegetables to eat. They met a lot of people
and played with children. Ever since he heard the story, Explo has been dreaming of to
see the other side of his only world, the sea and the beach. He wants to experience
living in town and meet people.

At the beach, Explo slowly faces to the east and starts moving 120 cm forward. Then
he stops and face south. Pretending he is playing, he makes a complete turn and
makes another half turn. He looks at his family and they are all busy talking and
playing. When no body seems to keep an eye on him, he turns and moves 180 cm
further to the east. He stops and faces south. Again he pretends to play by making a
complete turn and a half turn. When no body seems to realize he is already far from the
group, he quickly turns to the east and moves forward for another 50 cm. Knowing that
he is far enough from his family, he headed north and moves 60 cm towards the grass
area.

Explo hides among the tall grass and then moves 100 cm to the West. Peeping through
the grass, he can see his family on the beach. Since, none of his family notices he is
gone; he followed a foot track which is 55o to his right. Here, he notices that the grass is
shorter and the open area in front of him seems unthreatening. This encourages him to
move 90 cm straight to the front. The track then bends 55o to his left side. He carries on
moving another 150 cm along the straight foot track. At this stage, he is very confident
that his family will not be able to find him because he is sure that he is already far away
from them.

Explo then continues his journey by following the foot track which is 40o from his left.
After moving for another 90 cm, the track bends slightly 25o to his right. Here, he
notices that both sides of the foot track are covered with tall grass and he cannot see
anything a head of him. He is wondering if the town is on the other side of the tall
grass. So, he eagerly moves another 80 cm before he reaches another bend which is
60o to his left. He continues moving forward and reaches the end of the foot track.
Suddenly, he hears familiar voices screaming “Explo! Where have you been? We are
worried about you!” Without telling the truth, Explo sadly explains to his family that he
was tired and fell asleep among the tall grass.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE END~~~~~~~~~~~~~