New
New
Year 5

Using selection to control the flow of a program

I can use a loop to repeatedly check whether a condition has been met.

New
New
Year 5

Using selection to control the flow of a program

I can use a loop to repeatedly check whether a condition has been met.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Coding projects can have conditions and actions.
  2. A condition being met can be used to start an action.
  3. Selection can be used to control the flow of a program.

Keywords

  • Condition - a statement that can be either True or False

  • Selection - part of a program where if a condition is met, then a set of commands is run

Common misconception

If… then… statements can be checked once in a program.

An if... then... statement can be made to repeatedly check a condition by using a forever loop.


To help you plan your year 5 computing lesson on: Using selection to control the flow of a program, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Use live demonstrations of the Crumble programming software to support understanding and encourage pupil questions about selection and control.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Pupils will need access to a microcontroller, crocodile clips, battery packs, Sparkle LEDs and push button switches. Examples in this lesson use Crumble https://oak.link/crumble

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is a condition in programming?

Correct answer: a statement that can be True or False
a set of instructions
a loop that repeats code
a type of error in the program

Q2.
What does a conditional loop do?

stops the program
Correct answer: repeats code until a condition is met
jumps to another part of the program
runs code only once

Q3.
Which of these is an example of a condition?

the program runs
the microcontroller turns on
a loop stops repeating
Correct answer: if the button is pressed

Q4.
What is the purpose of a microcontroller?

to display images
to store large amounts of data
Correct answer: to respond to inputs
to connect to the internet

Q5.
What does True mean in programming?

a loop is running
a program has stopped
Correct answer: a condition is met
an error has occurred

Q6.
Put these steps in order to program a microcontroller.

1 - write the program
2 - upload the program to the microcontroller
3 - run the program

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the terms to their examples.

Correct Answer:condition,If the button is pressed, ...

If the button is pressed, ...

Correct Answer:selection,If the temperature is below 20°C, turn on the heater.

If the temperature is below 20°C, turn on the heater.

Correct Answer:True,The light is on.

The light is on.

Correct Answer:False,The button is not pressed.

The button is not pressed.

Q2.
What type of loop repeatedly checks a condition?

Correct Answer: forever, forever loop

Q3.
What is a condition in programming?

Correct answer: a statement that can be True or False
a set of commands
a loop that repeats code
a type of error in the program

Q4.
What is selection in programming?

a loop that repeats code
a method for storing data
Correct answer: a way to control program flow based on conditions
a tool to refine search terms

Q5.
What is the purpose of an if… then… statement?

to repeat code
to store data
Correct answer: to check a condition and run commands if the condition is met
to create a loop

Q6.
Selection allows a program to make decisions by checking a .

Correct Answer: condition