Unplugged Activity | Real Life Algorithms: Paper Airplanes
This lesson is called Real Life Algorithms.
Algorithms describe things that people do everyday. Cookie recipes and
directions for building a birdhouse are both everyday algorithms. Today we're gonna make,
create, and test an algorithm for a paper airplane. But first, we need to break this
big project into easy to follow small steps. For making a paper airplane, we need to decide
what steps to take and in what order to take them. You'll create your algorithm by first
cutting apart the pictures. Next, you'll select the 6 pictures that show the steps needed
to make a paper airplane and arrange those pictures in the correct order. After you have
everything in order, you will trade algorithms with another student team to test out the
algorithm to see if the algorithm works. A well designed algorithm is super important
to making the best paper airplane.
When we want to make chocolate, there are many big
steps to that process. And each of those big steps has its own set of smaller steps. And
there are different recipes, or algorithms, depending on how we want the chocolate to
taste. Each step is important, even the small ones. So without one step, the rest of them
cannot be completed. Creating algorithms that others can understand is really important.
That's why each step has to be written down, so no matter who does it, the result is the same.