Education. Minecraft. Net

KEY
 
VOCABULARY 
Loop – a structure that repeats a set of instructions (algorithms) until it is told to 
stop 

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3 
Conditional – a statement that tells a program to do different actions depending 
on whether a condition is true or false 
LESSON
 
ACTIVITIES 
Lesson Review 
Briefly review the learning from the previous lesson (Slide 1) 
Students learned about algorithms, sequencing, pattern recognition, and loops. 
Ask the student the following questions: 
1. What is an algorithm? 
A. Detailed step-by-step directions or formulas for solving a problem or 
completing a task 
2. What does the 
block do? 
A. Tells the Agent to destroy blocks in a certain direction 
3. What is sequencing? 
A. The order the steps should be done in to complete a task 
4. What did loops help you to do in the previous lesson? 
A. Helped eliminate the need to use the same line of code over and over 
Direct Instruction (Teacher-Led; “I Do”) 
Welcome back to Coding Fundamentals (Slide 2).
Review lesson objectives with students (Slide 3). 
In our previous lesson, we learned how loops improved the coding efficiency in 
giving the Agent commands. Students learned to construct algorithms and put 
them in sequence and based on that sequence, they were able to repeat steps 
using loops.
Remind students that they are in the Arctic. To help the polar bear cub find its 
family, they are going to use their expanding knowledge of loops and conditionals 
(Slide 4). 
• 
Review Loops: Have students think of a repetitive task they do every day. 
Have them write out that task using pseudocode. Then, write the loop down. 
• 
Use Slide 5 to review the new coding blocks. In this lesson, students will use 
a while loop. In this case, while the Agent is doing something, another 
command will occur. Think of it as while you are walking along the beach, 
you are detecting if you see seashells. 

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4 
Guided Instruction (Teacher Modeling; “We Do”) 
Activity 1: Locate the Cub (Slides 6-11) 
Tell students that they are on a mission to find a lost polar bear cub. When they 
arrive in the world, they will see paw prints. These paw prints are in the same 
direction as an avalanche. Explain to students that they need to program the Agent 
to dig a path without knowing how far the avalanche goes. 
Tell the students that they are going to use a different types of Loop block to help 
dig through the avalanche (
). This block tells the Agent to do one 
action, while the 
another block. 
Students need to program the Agent to move through the avalanche: 
Independent Work (Teacher Support; “You Do”) 
Activity 2: The Great Chasm (Slides 12-15) 
Tell the students that they need to program the Agent to build a bridge over the 
chasm. 

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5 
Activity 3a: Higher Ground (Slides 16-17) 
Now that students have found the cub, they need to program the Agent to build a 
tower to climb so that they might have a better chance to look for the cub’s family. 
First, they are going to build the tower. 
Activity 3b: Higher Ground (Slides 18-19) 
After the Agent has built the tower, students need to program the Agent to put the 
ladder so that they can climb the tower. Explain to students to ensure that they 
climb the ladder so they can find the cub’s family. 

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6 
Bonus Activity: Separated Family (Slides 20-21) 
As students can see the cub’s family just over the ridge past the clearing, they will 
need to head across, but the ice is thin. Students will need to send the Agent first 
to fill in the cracks so they bears can cross safely. 
There are multiple ways to solve this puzzle. Here is an image of a potential 
solution: