Terrapin Resources

Alphabet Cards

About the Command Cards

Command Cards help students keep track of the instructions they give to Bee-Bot and Blue-Bot. Each set comes with two decks of 44 cards:

  • 8 FORWARD cards
  • 8 BACK cards
  • 8 LEFT cards
  • 8 RIGHT cards
  • 4 PAUSE cards
  • 4 GO cards
  • 4 CLEAR cards

Each card is the length of a Bee-Bot or Blue-Bot step, so these cards can help students measure as well.

Lesson Ideas

Although these ideas refer to Bee-Bot, they can all be done with Blue-Bot as well.

Remind students to press X to erase the commands the previous student entered.

Lesson Idea 1: Going From Here to There

  • Divide students into groups.
  • One student chooses a destination for Bee-Bot to reach.
  • A second student lays out a series of command cards that he or she thinks will make Bee-Bot arrive at the right spot.
  • Remember that a Command Card is the same length of a Bee-Bot step. They can measure the distance to the target using the cards.
  • A third student enters the commands in order by referring to the Command Cards.
  • A fourth student confirms that the correct commands were given.

Did Bee-Bot reach the target? If not, what needs to be corrected.
Rearrange the cards or add new ones to the list and try again.
Help students understand the importance of debugging their code.

Lesson Idea 2: Random Walk
For this activity you need one or two dice and one coin.

  • Divide students into groups.
  • Have them design the rules for a game using the dice and coin. See the ideas below.
  • They can use the Command Cards to record the route that Bee-Bot takes.

For example, if the coin is flipped and comes up Heads, Bee-Bot must turn right.
If it comes up Tails, Bee-Bot must turn Left.

Now roll the die. The number that comes up is how many steps Bee-Bot should take in the direction it is pointing.
You can could also flip the coin first to determine if Bee-Bot should move Forward or Back.

Students will also have to figure out how to deal with obstacles that might be in the path of Bee-Bot.

There are many opportunities for creativity in this activity.

Lesson Idea 3: Using the Online Mats

If students are using computers in your classroom, have them use the online mats in the Bee-Bot Emulator in a browser. They can still use the Command Cards to plan their route on the various mats.

Lesson Idea 4: Create Your Own Game!

Encourage students to invent a new game that they can play using Command Cards.

Command Cards
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