Here's one of our most popular
applets that we designed in conjunction with the team at NCTM. In this free
interactive, students guide a turtle to a pond using turn-by-turn commands
while estimating distance and angle.
How to Play
Students click on the arrow
buttons on the turtle controller to move the turtle on the screen forward and
backward and make right and left turns. Clicking on the arrows also pulls up
another menu that asks students to estimate the number of steps to move or the
angle at which they would like the turtle to turn. Once students have entered a
path, they simply click on the play buttons to watch their turtle get to the
pond with a splash! (or not!)
To make the activity even more
challenging, you can choose to turn the grid on or off, add ‘obstacles' like
bushes and rocks, and also expand the number of angles that are displayed in
the menu to give the turtle more freedom of movement.
Use this applet to help your
students apply mathematical concepts and trial and error to solve problems in a
fun and engaging way.
Grade
Levels
Depending on
the level of support you provide, this applet would work well for students in
Pre-K through Eighth grade.
Tip for whole class
instruction
Project
the turtle pond applet on your interactive whiteboard and have your students
compete in teams to see who can get the turtle to the pond with the shortest
number of moves.
Resources
If you like this applet, you can find
more ideas on how to use it on the NCTM Illuminations
website.