LESSON PLAN

CODING + BIOLOGY
AGES:
K-5
STUDENT ENGAGEMENT:
15-30 students per facilitator, no prior skill necessary.

Next Generation Science Standards applied:

K-LS1-1.

Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including

humans) need to survive.

1-LS3-1

Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants

and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents.

2-LS4-1

Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in

different habitats.

3-LS1-1.

Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles
but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.

4-LS1-1.

Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external
structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and
reproduction.

Materials, Resources and Preparation

Review the
Hour of Code Educator Guide
and
Best Practices from Successful Educators
to plan your Hour of Code event.
Register your Hour of Code
event to receive a thank you gift and f
un posters
.
If youre running an online tutorial, be sure to test it first before asking your students to
complete it. Check your technology and decide if you need to troubleshoot anything in
advance.
Print certificates
to hand out at the end.

Getting Started (2-5 mins)

FIRST: Introduce the activity (2-5 minutes)

Kick off your Hour of Code by inspiring students and discussing how computer science
impacts every part of our lives and is revolutionizing the study of biology.
Show

The Hour of Code is Here

.
Its okay if both you and your students are brand new to computer science. Here are some
ideas to introduce your Hour of Code activity as a biology / life sciences teacher:
Explain ways technology impacts our lives, with examples both boys and girls will
care about (Talk about saving lives, helping people, connecting people, etc.).
3D printing is being used to create new limbs for amputees; microchips to find lost
pets and track rare/elusive animals like whales, sharks, and lions.
Let students know that it's important to learn more about how technology works
regardless of what career they want to go into.
Farming (using data for watering and fertilizing),
Fashion (programmable LED dresses at NYFW 2015),
Medicine (using robots for surgery)
See tips for getting girls interested in computer science
here
.

NEXT: Direct students to the activity (1 minute)

Write the tutorial link on a whiteboard: b
itsbox.com/hoc
Tell students to visit the URL and start the activity by:
Click the Build Apps Now link in the center of the screen. This will launch a short
guided tutorial that will show the students the basics of using Bitsbox.
Once you've completed the tutorial, click the star-shaped New App
button. Enter the first app number (1741) and click "Go".
Tip:
For younger students, load the Build Apps Now page ahead of time or save
it as a bookmark.
Pass out Bitsbox app handouts (last page of this guide) and direct students to start with Flower
Grow.

Activity (20-40 mins)

NEXT: Ask students to complete the tutorial, alone or in groups
Direct students to type in exactly what they see on the handouts.
This will create an app they
can then experiment with. Circulate around the room ensuring students are typing into the
Bitsbox code window.

If students can get a working Animal Abitats, show them how to start a new app by:
1. Pressing the Home Icon at the bottom of the virtual tablet
2. (optional) Have them set up an account if they want to save their progress and show
their parents their work later! An email address is required to do this.
3. Press the star-shaped New App button, enter the app number (XXXX) and click "Go".

Note that the first app is a simplified version of the next app, Alotta Animal Abitats. When
your students have a working Alotta Animal Abitats, have them discuss with a partner:
What is the environment like in Africa?
Possible answers: desert, rainforest, savannah;
How is it different from where we live?
Possible answers: hotter and drier, less snow,
Why might these animals live in their particular places?
Possible answers: they depend on each other in a food web, they all need the
resources (food, water, shelter) their environment gives, their parents all lived
there
As you walk around the room, you can help students look at the code they wrote and answer:
Can you move them around by changing the numbers next to their names?
Hint: try going from s
tamp('elephant3',450,800,200) to
stamp('elephant3',750,100,200)

Use the questions above to segue into the influence of environment on an animals life. And if
there is time when students finish with Alotta Animal Abitats, have them move on to Flower
Grow
Show them how to start a new app by:
1. Pressing the Home Icon at the bottom of the virtual tablet
2. (optional) Have them set up an account if they want to save their progress and show
their parents their work later! An email address is required to do this.
3. Press the star-shaped New App button, enter the app number (XXXX) and click "Go".
Direct students to type in exactly what they see on the Flower Grow handout,
circulate around
the room ensuring students are typing into the correct window.
When your students have a working Flower Grow app ask questions or have them discuss with
a partner / neighbor:
What caused the flower to grow?
Possible answers: enough water, being in a good environment
What other things need water to grow?
Possible answers: we need it! Puppies and kittens, lizards, birds, almost every
living thing needs water
What else does a flower need to grow?
Possible answers: nutrients in the soil and in the air, being free of pests and
disease
What happens if a flower gets too much water?

 Possible answer: its bad for it; the soil is too muddy for it to grow in
How does a plant change as it got bigger?
The stem gets thicker, it sprouts more leaves, it can grow buds and flowers

When your students come across difficulties

Make sure to check for common errors. Remember, every character matters.
Incorrect capitalization
Missing syntax like { or (
Missing or mismatched quotation marks. (e.g. stamp(cow') or stamp('cow"))
Misspellings
Its okay to respond:
I dont know. Lets figure this out together.
Let's try something and see what happens."
Learning to program is like learning a new language; you wont be fluent right
away.
What to do if a student finishes early?
Have extra handouts of related apps like 6241 The Debugger and 3
792 Clownfish
Roundup
Students can see all tutorials and try another Hour of Code activity at
code.org/learn
Or, ask students who finish early to help classmates who are having trouble with the
activity.

Wrap-Up (5-10 mins)

FOUR: Debrief & Close
Debrief the activity, connect the role of technology and coding to helping scientists
understand why things in the present work the way they do, figure out what happened in the
past, and predict what might happen in the future.
Celebrate and
pass out certificates
and stickers.
Let participants know they can continue to learn at
code.org/learn/beyond
.
Share photos and videos of your Hour of Code event on social media. Use #HourOfCode and
@codeorg so we can highlight your success, too!

Beyond one hour

If you kids enjoyed Bitsbox, they can find more materials at b
itsbox.com/hoc.

There are many ways to go Beyond an Hour of Code:

Explore other curricula
from our partners
.
Teach the
Code Studio Computer Science Fundamentals
courses. Code.org offers f
ree
professional development
for these courses, o
nline
or
in-person
.
Invite a computer science expert to your class.
Sign up for a virtual classroom.

Bitsbox App Handout

Animal Abitats
1. fill('africa')
2. stamp('elephant3',450,800,200)
3. stamp('zebra',550,450,200)

Alotta Animal Abitats

App Number:
5575
1. fill('africa')
2. stamp('elephant3',450,800,200)
3. stamp('zebra',550,450,200)
4. stamp('camel2',250,200,200)
5. stamp('lion2',400,300,200)
6. stamp('gorilla',400,550,200)

Flower Grow
App Number:
1741
1. fill('blurry grass')
2. size = 500
3. can = stamp('watering can',600,100)
4. tulip = stamp('tulip',375,999,size)
5. can.tap = grow
6.
7. function grow() {
8. size = size + 200
9. tulip.size(size,1000)
10.}