Studio build: replace repetition with a loop
Ākonga take a working but repetitive project and compress it with repeat and forever blocks, then justify why the shorter version is easier to change.
- Coding Studio move: Before/after block count on the same behaviour
- Evidence it produces: A refactored project plus a one-sentence reason the loop version is better to maintain
Lesson 3: Repeating Actions: Iteration with Repeat & Forever Loops
Developing computational thinking through Scratch block coding, algorithms, and Te Ao Māori perspectives.
🎯 Ngā Whāinga Akoranga | Learning Intentions
The concept of iteration (loops), difference between count-controlled loops ('repeat 10') and infinite loops ('forever'), and code efficiency.
Replace repetitive sequential blocks with compact loop blocks, animate sprite walking cycles, and draw geometric shapes using the Pen extension.
🎥 Media Anchor & Pedagogical Scaffold
Scratch: Repeat and Forever Loops
Video Clip: Clear explanation of how repeat and forever loop blocks work in Scratch — when to use each, and how they change how your program runs.
🧠 1. Before Viewing (Activate & Predict)
Why write 20 identical lines of code when you can tell the computer to repeat a block 20 times?
👁️ 2. During Viewing (Watch With a Job)
- Watch the full clip. As you watch, note the difference: when does a repeat loop stop, and when does a forever loop stop?
- Think of one example in a game where you would use repeat, and one where you would use forever — jot them down.
- After watching, try building the loop example shown in Scratch and change the repeat number to see what happens.
🗣️ 3. After Viewing & Kaiako Move (Process & Apply)
Kaiako Move: Demonstrate the Scratch Pen extension drawing colourful polygons (squares, triangles, hexagons) using loop mathematical angles.
Immediate Task: Complete Section 3 of your Digital Tech Logbook: Loop Efficiency Audit & Scratch Pen Geometric Art.
⚡ Whakaoho | Do Now: Square in Eight Lines (10 mins)
On paper, write the instructions for drawing a square — four sides, four turns — in exactly eight lines. Count them. Today's question: what if Scratch needs that sequence forty times — do you really want to write it out forty times?
📖 Activity 1: The Polygon Machine — Repeat With Two Numbers (25 mins)
Add the Pen extension and build the polygon drawer with the projector: repeat 4 [move 100 steps; turn 90 degrees] draws a square. Change only the two numbers — 3 and 120, then 6 and 60, then 8 and 45 — and predict the shape before every run. Each pair then writes a mystery polygon's two numbers on a slip; the other pair runs it and names the shape it drew. Finish with forever [turn 3 degrees] and say what "iterates forever" looks like on the stage.
📝 Activity 2: Digital Tech Logbook & Code Reflection (20 mins)
Draft your formal Digital Tech Logbook entry for Lesson 3. Apply exact programming vocabulary (e.g., repeat, forever, iteration, polygon, angle, efficiency) to explain your code decisions.
🏫 Kaiako Planning & Pedagogy Notes
Year 7 Curriculum Alignment: Iteration with repeat and forever loops (NZC Technology; Te Mātaiaho Phase 3) — Lesson 2's long sequences collapse into one loop block and two numbers.