Table of Contents Appendix E-examples Resources

Learning Geometry and Measurement Concepts by Creating Paths and Navigating Mazes: Extension Hiding Ladybug Making Rectangles Ladybug Mazes

Writing short programs using computer languages like Logo can afford students even greater opportunities to plan and execute simple navigations. Students might begin by making rectangles of many different shapes and sizes and then learn to turn a series of commands into a procedure. They can discuss their work with others, sharing ideas and challenging one another to create new designs. Following are different rectangles and the commands that produced them.

Students might decide to draw a "tilted" rectangle, creating the following picture as a beginning. However, they may be unsure of how far to go forward or turn. Conversations with others about the properties of a rectangle can help students abstract, generalize, and symbolize their ideas so that their experiences in the computer environment help connect new learning with old.

Different versions of Turtle Logo are commercially available. The following investigation is more challenging than those described earlier.

Task

Use the sliders to try different values for each of the settings that can be changed. How is each value related to the path created? Can you predict the path that will be generated for certain values?

[How to Use the Interactive Figure]

Hiding Ladybug	Making Rectangles	Ladybug Mazes

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