Instructions for a Computer: teacher key

How Coding Works, grade 5 edition, written for 5th grade. How do people write code? Find out what a program is, how a loop and a variable work, and what a bug is.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What is a computer program?
   • A list of instructions for a computer (answer)
   • A kind of computer screen
   • A game played with cards
2. What does a loop do?
   • It names a variable
   • It makes a computer repeat a set of instructions (answer)
   • It finds a typing mistake
3. A game keeps a score that goes up as you play. Which part of a program could keep track of it?
   • A string
   • A bug
   • A variable (answer)
4. In the page about bugs, what does debugging mean?
   • Finding and fixing the bugs in a program (answer)
   • Writing a new program
   • Giving a variable a name
5. What is a syntax bug?
   • A mistake in how the steps are ordered
   • A typing mistake in the code (answer)
   • A program that repeats forever

Words

• algorithm: list of steps
• loop: repeats steps
• variable: holds a value
• bug: a mistake
• syntax: code writing rules