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Science and Technology K–6 · Years 1–2

Programming people: giving and following exact instructions

Digital Technologies with Design and Production (NSW 2017); Digital Technologies, Processes and production skills (ACARA v9)

PracticalLow risk

The idea

Instructions for a machine must be exact and in order, because the follower does only what is said.

Safety card

Low riskAn adult supervises

Hazards

  • Walking blindfolded across a floor grid

Controls

  • Floor cleared of bags, chairs and cords before any run
  • The adult stands beside the blindfolded robot for every step, within arm's reach, with a learner spotter on the other side
  • The run stops the moment the robot reaches the edge of the grid, and the blindfold comes off before anyone walks anywhere else

Note

No chemicals or heat. Record the activity on the school's risk assessment (Primary School RiskAssess, Ecosolve Australia, riskassess.com.au).

What you need

  • A cleared classroom floor marked with a grid of taped squares (about 40 cm), a start square and three target objects on other squares
  • Printed cards: forward one square, back one square, turn left (a quarter turn on the spot), turn right (a quarter turn on the spot), pick up, put down
  • A blindfold for the optional challenge

How to do it

  1. One learner is the robot and stands on the start square. The programmer lays out a card sequence to reach the first object and says it aloud one card at a time.
  2. The robot does exactly what each card says, nothing more, moving one square for each forward card. The tester watches for any step the robot had to guess.
  3. If the robot ends in the wrong place, find the first card that went wrong, fix the sequence and run it again from the start.
  4. Swap roles for the second and third objects, and give one finished sequence to a different robot to run.
  5. Optional, with the adult beside them within arm's reach: the robot wears the blindfold, so only the cards can guide it.

What you should see

A run goes wrong at the first card that is missing or wrong, and the robot's position shows where; fixing that card and running again from the start is the debugging step. Because every forward card moves one grid square, a correct sequence takes any robot to the same object. The learner knows it worked when a sequence written for one robot takes a different robot to the same object without a word of extra help.

What changes

This activity lists no variables to change, measure and keep the same.

Common misconceptions

Each of these ideas is wrong, and the activity is a chance to test it.

  • A person following instructions should use common sense to fill gaps (a computer cannot).
  • More cards always make a better program.

Curriculum references

The NSW syllabus outcomes and Australian Curriculum v9 codes this activity supports. They are references, not a verified or complete curriculum alignment.

  • Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2017), NESA. Current syllabus; NESA's timeline is 2026 plan and prepare, 2027 start teaching the 2024 syllabus. Code read from the official syllabus document on 2026-09-22.ST1-3DP-TST1-2DP-T
  • Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2024), NESA. Implementation from 2027, so this code describes the future syllabus. Code read from the outcomes page on 2026-09-22.ST1-DDT-01
  • Australian Curriculum v9AC9TDI2P02

Sources

The pages the author read to write this activity.

  1. www.scootle.edu.au/ec/search?accContentId=AC9TDI2P02
  2. www.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/nesa/curriculum/science/science-and-technology-k-6-2017
  3. www.digitaltechnologieshub.edu.au/teach-and-assess/classroom-resources/lesson-ideas/programming-people
  4. www.digitaltechnologieshub.edu.au/teach-and-assess/classroom-resources/lesson-ideas/introducing-algorithms
  5. www.csunplugged.org/en/topics/kidbots
  6. www.csunplugged.org/en/topics/kidbots/unit-plan/rescue-mission

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