Description:

In this challenge, students will create programs that simulate the growth of food and demonstrate how animals and people obtain their energy from food. Programming skills involved in this challenge include using variables to store data, using loops to create animations and repeated actions, and conditional statements to make decisions and cause events.

Applicable NGSS Standards:

4-PS3: Energy

1. Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object.

5-PS3: Energy

1. Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.

Links to Challenge materials:

Lesson plan– Includes lesson overview page, design cycle instructions, prototype build instructions, and rubric.
Rubric– Rubric for student self-assessment.
Scratch project prototype– Test out the prototype, view the code and project settings.
Challenge report– Report to be sent home with students at the end of class.

Check your understanding:

Take this short quiz to check your understanding on some of the concepts and skills in this lesson.

Share your Prototype:

In order to verify your completion of this lesson and receive your PD/CTLE credit hours for this online PD, please a link to your Scratch prototype in the comments below— Make sure you SHARE your Scratch project before posting it. To redeem your credit hours, please follow the instructions here.