Eco April’s: Code for Good, Life on Land Coding Challenge

By: Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension Educator, Community Development & STEM, Pickaway County

Kids today will inherit the Earth of tomorrow, so it’s important to start their “eco-education” early. Interactive games and programming projects are great ways to educate and empower kids to take greener actions in life. Coding is also a great way to provide technical skills that enhance their critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. In this lesson, we hope to inspire students by reminding them that games and coding can teach and promote positive change in the world.

Life on Land coding challenge explores the importance of forests to the world’s ecosystem. Students can play with working projects and advanced programmers can create their own original projects.

Students will use their coding skills to create a project in Tynker that shows the importance of the world’s forest with code. When they’re done with this tutorial, encourage them to get creative.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Students will explore why trees are important to us as they complete the activities in this coding challenge.
• Apply coding concepts and code blocks to create a Life on Land project.

PREPARATION

This activity is designed for self-directed learning. The parent/teacher’s role will be to help kid(s) individually complete the coding activities on their own. How to prep:

• Get familiar with Tynker and how to set up free online accounts read, Quick Guide for Tynker Teachers.
• Get familiar with material: read through this lesson guide and complete the activity before assigning it to kids. This helps with troubleshooting and answering questions.
• Get kid(s) excited about coding before starting the lesson by playing an inspiring video.
• OPTIONAL, sign up for a free teachers/parent account. This allows access to teacher guides, answer keys, and additional resources such as monitor kids’ progress and seeing their projects and allows printing certificates to hand out to kids.

GETTING STARTED (20-min.)

Part 1:

• Play short video, All Aboard for Global Goals, Thomas & Friends (1:14)
• Play short video, Goal #15, All Aboard for Global Goals, Thomas & Friends (1:31)
• Lead a discussion:
  • What is a forest? (Answer: a large area of land that has a lot of trees.)
  • True or false: Forests cover ⅓ of Earth’s land (Answer: True.)
  • What do you think lives in a forest? (Answer: plants, animals, )
  • Can you name animals that live in the trees or the forest? (Examples: monkeys, ants, butterflies, koalas.)
• Tell kids that they are going to use Tynker in an upcoming activity to program a Life on Land project. Before students start coding, ask them to complete the “Goal 15: Life on Land” assignment (located on the next page) as an in-class activity.
• Have students use the Goal 15 activity sheet to create an outline for their coding

Part 2:

• Once kid(s) have an understanding of sustainable development goals they can start the second part which is the DIY coding module.
• Go to “Page 3” of the Tynker tutorial and show students the provided examples to play, refer to the image below. How to play: Click the stage to plant seeds that will grow into trees!
• OPTIONAL: read the Life on Land tutorial out loud to your students.

DIY MODULE (30-min.)

Help kid(s) complete the Life on Land module on their own:

• Kid(s) will create an open-ended project that demonstrates the importance of trees and determine which code blocks to use.
• Point to “Page 3” of the tutorial and have a kid(s) become inspired by clicking on the example projects and remind kid(s) of their sustainability goal.
• Ask kid(s) to add a background and actor(s) to their project. They can also draw their own artwork or select images from the media library.
• If a kid(s) are having difficulty drawing their own actors, play this Tynker support video.
• Are kid(s) on the code block tab and want to return to the tutorial, ask them to click on this icon:

EXTENDED ACTIVITY

Encourage kid(s) to connect with nature by taking them on a short trip outside or to a park or school yard. As a kid(s) start exploring, point out different plants and animals and tell them to sketch them in a notebook.

REFLECTIONS

All kids can make their mark, and any effort, large or small, makes a big difference. Creative kids will grow up to be the inventors of tomorrow who create games and computer programs to change the world for the better.

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TAKE ACTION TODAY: Become an Earth-minded eater (try eating more meat-free meals, buy local and organic, do not waste food, and buy reusable, non-plastic products, e.g., peanut butter in a glass contain not plastic.)

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References

Life on Land Coding Challenge Lesson  

 

 

 

 

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Peer-reviewed by Tracy Winters, OSU Extension Education, 4-H Youth Development, Gallia County, and Travis West, Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development, Vinton County.