New
New
Year 6

Making a step counter

I can develop a program to use inputs and outputs on a controllable device.

New
New
Year 6

Making a step counter

I can develop a program to use inputs and outputs on a controllable device.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Designs can be used to guide program development
  2. Programs can be evaluted against the initial design
  3. Debugging can be approached in several different ways

Keywords

  • Test - try a program to check that it works

  • Debug - the process of finding and correcting errors in a program

  • Design - a plan that shows how a program should work

Common misconception

Testing your program once is enough.

Programs should be tested many times to find all bugs.


To help you plan your year 6 computing lesson on: Making a step counter, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Pair pupils for debugging. Explaining their thinking aloud to a partner often helps identify logic errors more effectively than working alone.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Pupils will need access to a device with block-based programming software that can be used to program a physcial controller. Examples in this lesson use Microsoft MakeCode https://oak.link/makecode

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 the main reason to use variables in a program?

Correct answer: to store and change information as the program runs
to make the program colourful
to make the program shorter
to delete errors

Q2.
What is the term for information sent into a program to be processed?

Correct Answer: input

Q3.
Match each example to the correct keyword.

Correct Answer:pressing a button,input

input

Correct Answer:displaying a score,utputo

utputo

Correct Answer:number stored in memory,variable

variable

Correct Answer:list of steps to follow,algorithm

algorithm

Q4.
What is the result produced by a program called?

Correct Answer: output

Q5.
Put these steps in order for designing a program.

1 - Decide what the program needs to do.
2 - Plan the inputs and outputs.
3 - Design the algorithm.
4 - Write the code.

Q6.
What should you consider when designing the flow of your program?

the colour of the screen
the name of the programmer
Correct answer: the order of steps and decisions
the number of comments

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is the main purpose of a design in programming?

to make the program colourful
to make the program run faster
Correct answer: to guide how the program should work
to add more errors

Q2.
What does it mean to debug a program?

Add more features.
Correct answer: Find and fix errors.
Make it run slower.
Change the colour.

Q3.
Put these steps in order for developing a program.

1 - Design your program.
2 - Build your code.
3 - Test your code.
4 - Debug and improve your code.

Q4.
Why is it important to evaluate a program against the initial design?

Correct answer: to see if it matches what you planned
to make it more colourful
to change the keywords
to add more inputs

Q5.
Match each action to its purpose.

Correct Answer:build code,write the instructions

write the instructions

Correct Answer:test program,try it out

try it out

Correct Answer:debug program,find and fix errors

find and fix errors

Correct Answer:evaluate program,judge against the design

judge against the design

Q6.
Why should you test your program more than once?

to make it longer
to change the design
to add more errors
Correct answer: to find all the bugs

Additional material

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