An Hour of Coding on the Farm

“Coding?! But why!?” That is exactly what went through my head when I learned that we would be exploring coding websites this week. I have an aversion to coding, for no reason, honestly. In high school, all the super smart guys took computer science classes and honed their craft by hacking the school’s computer system or serving as IT for teachers when they were having computer problems. I never understood all the 1s and 0s, how to write script, and create games from what seemed to be random letters and symbols. It all feels overwhelming. So here I am, three weeks away from finishing my education degree, coming face to face with something that terrifies me.

 

I decided to give Hour of Code a go and see what kind of projects I could find. To soften the blow, I decided to look for cows because they are my favourite animal, and everything is better with cows. No luck. Then I tried “farming”, bingo! Code Farm: Plant a Garden is geared towards Grades 2-8, and it seemed like a good fit for me. (Am I smarter than a 5^th Grader? We’re about to find out!)

 

 

The introduction video was great, it explained what I would be learning and how some of the basic code blocks worked. What won me over were the videos that explained the application of coding in agriculture. This took a concept that, for me, was way out in left field, and applied it to something I understood. It also serves as a great segway to integrating this type of learning into a social studies unit for many grades, as it directly relates to agriculture and therefore to Saskatchewan. I can see myself utilizing this resource in this manner in the future!

I enjoyed following the tutorials and figuring out the puzzles of how to get the robot to the target. These types of critical thinking puzzle games are some of my favourites, and I’ve had many students enjoy them as well. For this reason alone, I think incorporating coding into the classroom in some form is beneficial for students. The only part that I didn’t like about the program was not being able to test only certain sections of the code. Once I got to the final project, planting my very own garden, it became draining to wait for the robot to plant half a field only to discover that my measurement was off, and I’d have to rewatch the entire process to see if my changes worked. A lesson in patience and resiliency, absolutely. But by the end, I was just over it.