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Unplugged Activity
Real Life Algorithms: Planting a Seed
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algorithm
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This lesson is called planting
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a seed, and it's going to help us understand
algorithms. Algorithms are specific instructions
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that explain the order in which to do something.
Even every day things like eating breakfast
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or brushing your teeth are algorithms that
require small steps to get a job done. Computers
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can be really smart, but they can only understand
you if you tell them exactly what you want,
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step by step. The great thing about algorithms
is that if you follow the instructions in
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order, you can do something that you didn't
know how to do ahead of time. It's like following
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a recipe. Today we're going to plant our own
seeds using an algorithm. So first we have
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to fill the pot with soil right? I don't think
we have to put glue on the seed. Right. Create
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your own algorithm by cutting apart the pictures.
Select the pictures that show steps in planting
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a seed, and then arrange those pictures in
the correct order. Now, it's time for you
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to see if your algorithm works. Follow the
steps in the algorithm very carefully. Are
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they in the correct order? Did you succeed
in planting a seed by following the algorithm?
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It's like programming with pictures!
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When we want to make chocolate, there are many
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big steps to that process. And each of those
big steps has its own set of smaller steps.
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And there are different recipes, or algorithms,
depending on how we want the chocolate to
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taste. Each step is important, even the small
ones. So without one step, the rest of them
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could not be completed. Creating algorithms
that others can understand is really important.
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That's why each step has to be written down
so that no matter who does it, the result
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is the same.
