Activity Overview
Real world mathematics is complicated. A digital turtle resides in Maths-World where every movement is precise. In this activity students program a virtual turtle using the Python Turtle module. Students learn a combination of pseudocode, algorithmic thinking and geometry in one neat little lesson!
Objectives
From a standards perspective, students developing an algorithm for an animation of a geometric construction and evaluate the algorithm using test cases. On a much deeper level, students create beautiful mathematical images, learn about the internal and external angles of a regular polygon and learn the difference between ‘real world’ and ‘maths world’.
Vocabulary
- Algorithm
- Code
- Loop
- Function
- Interior Angle
- Exterior Angle
About the Lesson
Students learn how to write some simple code, including the use of terms such as loop, function and variable. They create a formula for the exterior angle of any regular polygon and use it to simplify their code.