Adapted from Step 1 of the Daisy Coding Basics badge. Contact your troop leader or your local Girl Scout council to become a Girl Scout member and learn all the requirements needed to earn the badge.
STEM
Daisy Coding Basics Badge Activity
Create Algorithms for a Computer that Follow a Sequence
Learn about algorithms and follow an algorithm to make a s’more.
Activity Details
Setup: Computer scientists write
code to tell computers what to do. They do this in different ways. For
example, they may write a list of steps to solve a problem or complete
a task. These lists of steps are done in the order that an event
should happen. The list of steps is called an algorithm. The order the
steps are done in is called the sequence. Once you know what an
algorithm is, you can then write or follow one to complete any type of
task!
Time needed: 15 minutes
Materials needed:
- 1 graham cracker
- 1 piece of chocolate
- 1 marshmallow
- 1 plate
- 1 napkin
Activity:
A recipe is a great example of an algorithm: it’s a list of steps to complete a task! In this case, the task is making a s’more, and the recipe is the list of steps that tells you how to do that.
Follow the steps of this algorithm to make a s’more:
Step 1: Take one marshmallow out of the bag and set it on your plate.
Step 2: Take one graham cracker out of the bag and break it in half.
Step 3: Set the halves on your plate.
Step 4: Unwrap a piece of chocolate.
Step 5: Set the chocolate on your plate.
Step 6: Put your marshmallow on one graham cracker half.
Step 7: Put your chocolate on top of the marshmallow.
Step 8: Put the other graham cracker half on top of the chocolate.
Step 9: Take a bite!
Troop Leaders: The instructions for all badge steps are available free of charge in your Girl Scout Volunteer Toolkit.
Girl Scouts at Home activities have been adapted from existing Girl Scout programming and optimized for use at home during a period of social distancing.