Terrapin Resources
Volume 7, Number 1
Back to School 2011

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


Bee-Bot Dice Mat Builds Number Skills
Bee-Bot Dice Mat

Two bright yellow dice and a mat with matching squares comprise the new Bee-Bot Dice Mat , offering a rich environment for Bee-Bot to teach and reinforce counting and number skills. Roll the dice and send Bee-Bot to the matching square or use the dice to determine the number of steps and turns and see where Bee-Bot ends up!

The Bee-Bot Dice Mat comes with two oversize bright yellow foam dice and a 36" by 18" vinyl mat with images of each side of the dice. It can be effectively used with one Bee-Bot while the introduction of a second Bee-Bot inspires competitive games. The dice that come with the Bee-Bot Dice Mat can be used in conjunction with most of the Bee-Bot Mats .

To introduce the new Bee-Bot Dice Mat, Terrapin is offering a $10 discount through October 30. Order the Bee-Bot Dice Mat before October 30, enter coupon code BEEDICE (one word, all caps) in the shopping cart, and roll the dice on Bee-Bot fun!

See the Bee-Bot Dice Mat

Bee-Bot and Pro-Bot Clubs at Rhinoceros Toys
Counting with Bee-Bot

Rhinoceros Toys , an innovative toy store specializing in toys that inspire creative play, now includes Bee-Bot and Pro-Bot among its products. In addition to offering the robots for sale, Rhinoceros Toys sponsors Bee-Bot and Pro-Bot Clubs at each location. The clubs offer students from 4-12 years old the opportunity to interact with the robots and each other on a regular basis to develop their planning and programming skills.

In addition to welcoming children and parents, Rhinoceros Toys is happy to have educators visit as well. Co-owner and manager Bernadette Hennessy , a former teacher who used Bee-Bots and Pro-Bots with her students, states that "we are happy to work with schools and teachers as a supplier and integration resource." With locations in Jenkintown, PA and Haddonfield, NJ, Rhinoceros Toys is easily accessible from throughout eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey.


Move the Logo Turtle with Arrow Keys
Move the turtle with arrow keys

Terrapin Logo offers commands for reading input from the keyboard . This allows creation of Logo procedures that respond to user input. Arrow keys and other special keys do not output standard ASCII characters for Logo to read. Terrapin Logo is can interpret such keys on the byte level by using the GETBYTE command. By invoking GETBYTE, a Logo procedure can watch for the press of an arrow key and move the turtle accordingly.

Tips and Tools for Logo Programming now offers an example program for moving the turtle with arrow keys . Try it out and modify it to work just the way you want.


In this issue
  • Bee-Bot Dice Mat Builds Number Skills
  • Bee-Bot and Pro-Bot Clubs at Rhinoceros Toys
  • Move the Logo Turtle with Arrow Keys
  • Quick Links...

    Turtle Talk Archive

    Upgrade to Terrapin Logo v. 3

    FAQs

    Contact Terrapin

    Bee-Bot Hive
    The American Computer Science League organizes computer programming contests for middle and high school students. Information and materials on entering a team from your school is available for download.

    Bee-Bot USA Mat
    Future math teachers use Terrapin Logo at Hope College . Kelsey Masserant added her class project , which draws a complex image with carefully designed Logo procedures, to Terrapin's Logo Project Ideas .

    SIGCSE
    The Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education provides a forum for educators to share and discuss issues in teaching computer science and related subjects. A limited number of grants are available for special projects in this area.

    phone: (800) 774 LOGO