Year 4 Repetition in programs worksheet

“Programming a Screen Turtle” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 4 computing unit “Repetition in programs”, for children aged 8 to 9, and takes about 22 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

Programming a Screen Turtle

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 4 · Computing · about 22 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can write exact commands that move and turn a screen turtle.

A Look back3 min

1.
The robot must move right to reach the goal. How many squares must it move?
2.
The robot must go round the rock to reach the goal. Which arrows get it there?
→ ↓ ↓ ←↓ ↓→ → ↓ ↓← ↓ ↓ →
3.
Which instruction gets the robot to the goal?
Go over thereMove right 2 squaresMaybe go a bit rightWalk to the top

B Watch me, then you4 min

Ola wants the turtle to draw a line, turn right, then draw a second line. She types fd 40, rt 90, fd 40.

Watch me

fd 40 draws a line 40 steps long.

rt 90 turns the turtle a quarter turn to the right.

fd 40 draws a second line, so the two lines make a corner.

Now you

1.
Which command turns the turtle a quarter turn to the right?
rt 90rt 45bk 90pu 90
2.
Ola wants a square. Which set of commands draws four sides and four quarter turns?
fd 50, rt 90, fd 50, rt 90, fd 50, rt 90, fd 50, rt 90fd 50, rt 90, fd 50, rt 90fd 50, fd 50, fd 50, fd 50fd 50, rt 45, fd 50, rt 45, fd 50, rt 45, fd 50, rt 45

C Your turn8 min

Each row changes one thing. Circle the command that does the job.

A tablet on a desk showing a small triangle on a plain screen

1.
Circle the command that moves the turtle forward 20 steps.
fd 20f 20fd20bk 20
2.
The turtle faces up the screen. Circle the command that turns it to face right.
rt 90rt 9lt 90fd 90
3.
Circle the command that turns the turtle a quarter turn to the left.
lt 90rt 90lt 45bk 90
4.
The turtle has gone fd 35. Circle the command that sends it back to the start.
bk 35fd 35rt 35pu 35

Say it out loud: Which part of the command changed in each row? What did that change do to the turtle?

D Spot the mistake4 min

A tablet on a wooden table with a small triangle shape on its screen

Sam says: “I will type f 100. The computer will know I mean forward.”

1.
Write the command Sam should type to draw a line 100 steps long.

E Think deeper4 min

1.
Ola wants a square. She types fd 50, rt 90, fd 50, rt 90, fd 50, then stops. Is the square finished? Explain how you know.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Programming a Screen Turtle · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. 3

2. → ↓ ↓ ← If they chose ↓ ↓, the robot would run into the rock, which it cannot move onto. Trace the route one square at a time with a finger.

3. Move right 2 squares

B

1. rt 90 They may have picked rt 45, which turns the turtle only part of a quarter turn. Ask how many degrees make a quarter turn.

2. fd 50, rt 90, fd 50, rt 90, fd 50, rt 90, fd 50, rt 90 If they chose the set with only two lines, the shape is not closed. If they chose the set with no turns, the turtle draws a straight line. Ask how many sides a square has.

C

1. fd 20 If they circled f 20 or fd20, the computer will not recognise it. Compare the letters and spaces with fd 20 exactly.

2. rt 90 If they circled lt 90, the turtle turns left, not right. Right turns start with rt.

3. lt 90 If they circled lt 45, that is only half of a quarter turn. Ask how many degrees make a quarter turn.

4. bk 35 If they circled fd 35, the turtle goes even further away. Ask which command moves it backwards.

D

1. Look for: fd 100 or forward 100, with the letters and the space typed exactly. If they write f 100 again, the computer still cannot guess. Point to the missing d, and ask them to copy fd 100 letter by letter.

E

1. Look for: No, not finished. Only three lines are drawn, and a square needs four sides.

Words to use

Say“Which letters and spaces must match exactly? What would the computer do with that?”

Instead of“It's close enough, the computer knows what you meant.”

After the sheet

Give a family member written instructions to walk from the kitchen to the front door, using only steps and quarter turns. They must follow only what you wrote, so check every word and space together.

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:

Plans before code(with a plan)
Patterns that repeat(with a plan)
Loops that repeat(with a plan)
Naming procedures(with a plan)
Loops that close(with a plan)

Every Year 4 computing worksheet

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