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Christmas Lesson - Marty Saves Christmas

75 Minutes

Lesson Overview

In this lesson, students will be faced with the challenge of planning and programming Marty to find presents that have gone missing in Santa’s workshop to help Marty save Christmas. Students must also take in account whilst planning, Percy the Penguin who will try and take away some of the found presents to re-hide them again!

Key vocabulary:
    Script, Environment , Obstacles, Algorithm, Planning, Sequence,

Content Sections

  • Learning Objectives
  • Extensions & Challenges
    • Additional Reading
    • Christmas Lesson - Marty Saves Christmas

      75 Minutes

      Lesson Overview

      In this lesson, students will be faced with the challenge of planning and programming Marty to find presents that have gone missing in Santa’s workshop to help Marty save Christmas. Students must also take in account whilst planning, Percy the Penguin who will try and take away some of the found presents to re-hide them again!

      Key vocabulary:
        Script, Environment , Obstacles, Algorithm, Planning, Sequence,
      • Lessons 1.1 & 1.2
      • Laptop, PC or Tablet
        • Marty the Robot
        • Laptops/Computers/Tablets
        • Access to either Scratch or Python editor
        • Santa sleigh cut out and fold worksheet
        • Present cut out and fold worksheet
        • Percy the Penguin printouts
        • Either the movement board or design your own using pen & paper or tape
        • Scissors
        • Glue/Tape
        • String

      Learning Objectives

      • Design, cut out and build 3D models for the game
      • Plan a route for Marty to take, thinking about where the presents are and things to avoid
      • Create a program that will help them to direct Marty towards the presents and away from Percy

      1. Split students up into groups of 2-3

      2. Hand out present and sleigh cut out and fold worksheets either one per group or one per student

      a. Colour in and design your own sleigh and presents (ask student groups to do specific coloured presents so that we have groups of different coloured presents)

      b. Then cut out, fold and stick edges together using either glue or tape

      3. Attach the sleigh to Marty using string, getting students to think about where and how this should be attached

      a. Get students to try different positions and ways of attaching the sleigh to Marty then ask them to test it out by programming Marty to take a few different steps to see how the sleigh moves with him

      4. Get students to build and test some remote-control programs so that when you click on a certain sprite or type a specific action then that controls Marty’s movements

      5. Set up the game board using either the grid provided or by asking students to come up with small obstacle courses/mazes using tape or pen and paper

      a. Randomly place some of the presents around the board and some Percy the Penguins

      6. Ask the student group to collect the GREEN (or whatever colour) presents on the board and return to the same space that they started on

      a. Ask other students to help referee, for example, to keep an eye on whether Marty bumps into Percy then steal one present from the sleigh and place it somewhere else on the board

      b. Students may be timed to see which group does this the fastest

      7. After students have completed the challenge, ask them to reflect on how they did and what they would have done differently

      Extensions & Support

      • Ask students to think up additional rules for the game that they could use
      • Get students to design some different boards for Marty to move around, maybe even a small maze!

      Additional Reading

      • Marty Saves Christmas: How to Play
      • Educator’s Guide
      • Introduction to Programming with Marty using Scratch/Python (depending on which language is being used in the lesson)