Year 3 Programming sequence using sound worksheet

“Telling a sprite which way to face” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 3 computing unit “Programming sequence using sound”, for children aged 7 to 8, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 13 to 18 of the year, 6 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Telling a sprite which way to face

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 3 · Computing · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can tell a sprite which way to face using point in direction blocks.

A Look back3 min

1.
On a compass, which letter means right? Circle your answer.
NESW
2.
A full turn is the same as how many quarter turns? Turn your body to check.
3.
The steps are: put on shoes, then , then go outside. Which step goes in the gap? Circle your answer.
Eat cakePut on coatSleep

B Watch me, then you4 min

A sprite is pointing right. You click the block point in direction 180. Watch which way it turns, using the compass.

Watch me

In point in direction, 0 is up, 90 is right, 180 is down and -90 is left.

The sprite starts facing right. Then you click point in direction 180.

It now faces down. It does not add 180 to where it was facing.

Now you

1.
A sprite is facing right. You click point in direction 0. Which way does it face now? Circle your answer.
UpRightDownLeft

C Your turn6 min

Look at the compass. Each row changes one thing. Read the block, then circle the way the sprite faces.

1.
Point in direction 90. Which way does the sprite face? Circle your answer.
UpRightDownLeft
2.
Point in direction 180. Which way does the sprite face? Circle your answer.
UpRightDownLeft
3.
Point in direction -90. Which way does the sprite face? Circle your answer.
UpRightDownLeft
4.
The sprite is facing left. You click point in direction 0. Which way does it face now? Circle your answer.
UpRightDownLeft

Say it out loud: Which part changed between each row, and which part stayed the same?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Ola says: “My sprite is facing down. I click point in direction 90, so it turns 90 more and now faces left.”

1.
Which way does the sprite really face? Circle your answer.
LeftRightDownUp

E Think deeper4 min

1.
A sprite is facing right. You click point in direction 180, then click point in direction 180 again. Explain why it ends up facing down both times.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Telling a sprite which way to face · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. E your child may have picked N, which is up. Ask them to find right by holding their right arm out and matching it to the compass.

2. 4 If your child writes 2, that is a half turn. Stand up together and count each quarter turn until you face the start again.

3. Put on coat

B

1. Up your child may have said right, thinking 0 means no turn. Point in direction 0 always means up. Ask them to point up on the compass.

C

1. Right

2. Down

3. Left

4. Up your child may have turned from facing left. Point in direction 0 always means up, whatever the sprite was doing before. Ask them to find up on the compass.

D

1. Right your child thought the turn started from facing down. Point in direction 90 always means right, however the sprite was facing before. Ask which way 90 points on the compass.

E

1. Look for: An explanation that point in direction 180 always means facing down, because it measures from a fixed start and does not turn from the current direction.

Words to use

Say“Which way does 90 always point, even if the sprite is already facing somewhere else?”

Instead of“Just keep clicking the blocks until the sprite looks right.”

After the sheet

Draw a big plus sign on paper. Label 0 at the top, 90 on the right, 180 at the bottom and -90 on the left. Call out a number and have your child turn to face it.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

5 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Choosing the right sprite(with a plan)
Putting commands in order(with a plan)
Does the order matter?(with a plan)
Mixing block colours(with a plan)
Algorithms become code blocks(with a plan)

Every Year 3 computing worksheet

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