Terrapin Resources
Volume 6, Number 1
Back to School 2010

Welcome to the back to school issue of Turtle Talk,
the Logo newsletter from Terrapin Software.


Pro-Bot and Logo Make a Great Combination
Emulate Pro-Bot in Terrapin Logo

Which came first: the screen turtle or the floor turtle? Logo and turtle robots have a long, conjoined history and the latest iteration of both, Terrapin Logo v. 3 and Pro-Bot, make a great combination. Terrapin Logo offers a full range of turtle commands, while Pro-Bot carries Logo on-board, providing Logo programming experience, before, during, or after on-screen explorations.

R.J., an enthusiastic Logo student in New Mexico, has created Pro-Bot emulation in Terrapin Logo. His Logo program simulates Pro-Bot's interface with command listing, direction keys, sub-procedures, scaling, and pen. Use the mouse to enter commands just like you would on Pro-Bot. Click GO and watch the Pro-Bot image move as it follows the commands.

The Pro-Bot emulation program works in Terrapin Logo v. 3 and is available for free download. Terrapin also offers an economical Logo/Pro-Bot bundle to facilitate practice with both on-screen and hands-on programming.

Download Pro-Bot emulation for Logo...

Logo and Robots at Summer Camp
Summer campers construct a Pro-Bot maze

Learning to command Roamer, Bee-Bot, and Pro-Bot robots and programming in Terrapin Logo were part of the fun experiences this summer at Computer + Kids, a day camp in Pennington, NJ for students from 7 to 15 years old. Computers + Kids, one of the oldest technology camps in the U.S. has used Logo and turtle robots in its curriculum for 27 years.

According to camp director Eva Kaplan, "The kids love programming in Logo and it's the best way to teach the law of 360 degrees and geometry." Turtle robots have evolved along with Computers + Kids, she notes. "Bee-Bot succeeded Roamer, and has been followed by Pro-Bot. Campers love creating complex paths with specific instructional tasks for 'opponent' teams to visually estimate distances to move forward, determine whether to turn left or right, or even move back."

Students at left construct a path for Pro-Bot to challenge their fellow campers.


Bee-Bot Boosts Skills North of the Border
Canadian coin mat for Bee-Bot features all Canadian coins

Bee-Bot helps develop money and counting skills north of the border with the new Canadian coin mat. Developed by Terrapin at the request of Canadian teachers, the Canadian coin mat has images of the "loonie" and all other Canadian coins. Students can move Bee-Bot from coin to coin, learning its appearance and value and create Bee-Bot paths by adding the values together.

Bee-Bot mats are convenient and helpful resources that capture the motivation Bee-Bot inspires to develop and improve student skills. Along with U.S. and Canadian Coin Mats, Terrapin offers an Alphabet Mat, Community Mat, CVC Mat, Number Line, Race Track Mat, and Treasure Island Mat, each of which focuses on a set of skills, along with the multi-function Card Mat for teacher created images. Send us your ideas for any other mats that would work well in your classroom.


In this issue
  • Pro-Bot and Logo Make a Great Combination
  • Logo and Robots at Summer Camp
  • Bee-Bot Boosts Skills North of the Border
  • Quick Links...

    Turtle Talk Archive

    Upgrade to Terrapin Logo v. 3

    FAQs

    Contact Terrapin

    Logo turns 30!
    Terrapin's Home Discount program offers a special price for Terrapin Logo and Crystal Rain Forest to students at licensed schools so they can continue exploring and learning at home. To qualify, just enter the school and teacher names when checking out. Teachers may request Home Discount Coupons to distribute to their students.

    Read about Technology Boot Camp for kindergartners in the June/July issue of ISTE's Learning and Leading. Author Cristy Magagna-McBee, who also wrote Bee-Bot Lessons, describes using Bee-Bots and other technologies with the youngest learners.

    See Bee-Bot at Bluegrass Technology Center
    Teachers in central Kentucky can see Bee-Bot in action at the Bluegrass Technology Center in Lexington, a grassroots organization assisting individuals who have disabilities to connect with technology. Try out Bee-Bot in the exhibit area.

    phone: (800) 774 LOGO