Following Directions Quiz

Purpose: Computer Code Needs To be Precise…and Coders Need to Think In These Terms.

Implement the Following Directions Quiz.
• Distribute copies of Following Directions Quiz to each student face down in front of them. Each student should have a blank piece of paper and a pencil as well.

• Give the students five minutes to take the quiz. Make note of how many students stand up and shout “hooray.”

• Collect the papers when time has expired.

• Point out that a perfect paper is one which has only the word “December” written in the top left corner. (The directions said to read all parts of the test before doing anything and step 14 says to only complete step #3.)


Lunch Time! Lets Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich.
• Ask the students to write down a set of instructions for a computer to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Give them 5-10 minutes to write down these instructions.
• Collect the instructions.
• Take out the bread, peanut butter, jelly, and knife.
• Pass out the instructions to different tables.
• Read each instruction and carry it out—literally. For example, if the first instruction is “put the peanut butter on the bread,” take the jar of peanut butter and put it on the loaf of bread. If an instruction says to “spread the peanut butter on the bread,” use your fingers rather than a knife.
• Have each group see the outcomes of their instructions. Give them the opportunity to rewrite their instructions. If time remains, let them pass their instructions to a new group and allow them to try to make a pbj.
Reflect: Clearly, no matter how precise they tried to be, the instructions for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich were open to interpretation. his is, in fact, the idea behind a computer program. There is a limited set of instructions which define very precisely what the computer does.
Journal Entry: Reflect on Quiz and sandwich.
• “What is the point of having you take the quiz?”
• “What was the point of making sandwiches?”