(Also available in Pyret)
Students recreate images of flags of varying complexity by transforming and composing image functions and applying their knowledge of ratios and coordinates to scale and position the shapes precisely.
Lesson Goals |
Students will be able to:
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Student-facing Goals |
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Materials |
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Preparation |
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Key Points For The Facilitator |
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- comments
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messages in the code, generally ignored by the computer, to help people interacting with the code understand what it is doing
- define
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to associate a descriptive name with a value
- origin
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the point (0,0) where the horizontal and vertical axes intersect
- ratio
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the relative sizes of two or more values
- scale
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resize an image to be larger or smaller while maintaining ratios and proportions
🔗Putting Images Together 25 minutes
Overview
Students learn about the put-image function.
Launch
As you’ve already seen, overlay sticks two images together, so that the center of the first image is placed exactly on top of the center of the second image. But what if we want to put the dot somewhere besides the center?
The put-image function works like overlay, but instead of placing the centers of each image on top of one another, it translates the center of the top image by some distance in the x- and y-direction.
Think of the background image as a sheet of graph paper with the origin (0,0) in the bottom left corner.
The numbers in put-image specify a point on that graph paper, with the center of the top image being placed there.
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Take a look at Estimating Coordinates.
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The code beneath each image is missing the x and y coordinates to place the dot.
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Estimate the x- and y-coordinate of the dot’s location for each image to complete the code!
Investigate
Open the Flags Starter File and click "Run".
There are some special lines in this file called comments. The programmer who wrote this code included a series of messages - called comments - that will never be read by the computer.
Professional programmers use comments all the time.
Professional programmers work with teams who need to be able to follow each other’s thinking in order to collaborate efficiently. Comments are a way for programmers to leave notes for one another, and even for a single programmer to keep track of their thinking when they come back to their code another day.
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Each language has its own symbol for commenting. In WeScheme, we use the semi colon (
;) to tell the computer to ignore what we’re typing. What color does the code turn when it has a semicolon in front of it?-
Purple!
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Type
japan-flaginto the Interactions Area. What do you get back?-
We see Japan’s flag - a white background with a red dot in the center.
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Type
japaninto the Interactions Area and compare the image tojapan-flag.-
We see a variant of Japan’s flag; the dot is in the lower left now.
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japanis composed usingdotandbackground. Type each of those variables into the Interactions Area. What do you get back? -
Take a look at the
japancode and fix it so that it matches thejapan-flagimage. -
What is the Contract for
put-image? (Write it in your Contracts page!)-
put-image :: Image, Number, Number, Image
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Next, students will analyze code for the flag of the Netherlands, which uses put-image twice.
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Open the Flags of Netherland and click "Run". Look at the code for the flag of the Netherlands. How big is the flag?
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The flag is 200 x 300 pixels.
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What was the programmer thinking when she coded the height of the red stripe as
(/ 200 3)?-
The red stripe’s height is one-third of the total height (200).
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The center of the blue stripe is placed at (
150,(/ 200 6)). How did the programmer know to use 150 as the x-coordinate?-
150 is half of the rectangle’s width; that position will horizontally center the blue stripe.
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What was the programmer thinking when she coded the y-coordinate as
(/ 200 6)?-
Each stripe occupies 1/3 of the flag’s total height. That means the vertical center of the blue stripe is at 1/6 of the flag’s height.
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Explain the thinking behind coding the red stripe’s y-coordinate as
(* 5 (/ 200 6)).-
The red strip’s vertical center is at 5/6 of the flag’s total height.
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Once you’ve discussed the code for the flag of the Netherlands with your class, have them keep working with this starter file to write code for the flags of Ireland and Mauritius. Some students will make it through the challenges. Some students may only complete one flag. All of them will be synthesizing how to apply put-image and locate images on the coordinate grid.
Synthesize
Could we completely replace overlay with put-image? Why or why not?
Going Deeper If you have time, we have lots of additional starter files to push student thinking linked in the additional exercises at the end of this lesson and now would be the time to dive into them! |
🔗Making Flags 25 minutes
Overview
Students focus on decomposing complex images into simple ones and using put-image to combine images.
Launch
Let’s dig into the process for how the flags we’ve seen so far were made:
1) Decompose the Image
We observe that the Japanese flag is made up of two simpler images: a black, outline rectangle and a red dot.
2) Define those Parts
We define dot and background. Once we’ve defined those images, we test them out in the Interactions Area to make sure they look right!
3) Find the Coordinates
For each image, calculate what the x- and y-coordinates of where the center should be. TIP: this is a lot easier if you have a sheet of graph paper handy!
4) Build the Image & Check that it Matches the Target Image
We stack the parts on top of the bottom image using the coordinates we found. TIP: don’t cram all the code into one line! If you break it up into new lines (for example, hitting "Return" before the x-coordinate and after the y-coordinate), you’ll notice that the code forms a "staircase" pattern. Be sure to compare the image you get with the target image!
If you have time, these matching activities will support student thinking.
Investigate
Paper Flag Models to Code In this next exercise, students will be decomposing the image of a flag. For a more tactile experience, you could have students construct images of the flags they choose using construction paper. This should happen between the step where they describe the shapes needed to compose the flags image and write the code to build the image. The act of physically building the flag from layers of paper makes the layering of the coded images visible and helps students to remember that white space is not just "blank". |
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Turn to Decomposing Flags, and choose ONE flag to focus on. On the blank lines below, describe the parts that make up that flag.
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Once you’re done, return to the Flags Starter File and define those parts.
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Then, compose those parts using
put-image, and make your flag!
Around the World in your Classroom The opportunity to focus on a flag of their choosing is a big motivator for students. Coding flags also presents a rare opportunity for students to share a piece of their identity in math class. If you have more time to devote, we highly encourage you to give students the opportunity to create the image of a flag they connect with in some way. Students might choose the flags of countries related to their heritage, a place they’ve visited, a country they’re interested in, or a group they identify with or support. Encourage students to choose an appropriately challenging flag. The teacher may introduce parameters if necessary, such as “Flags need at least 5 different shapes”. This is intended to be a summative project, so encourage students to demonstrate what they’ve learned. Once students have coded their flags, host a tour of the flags of the world in your classroom! Be mindful of the fact that not every student will know their family’s geographical history, and that immigration can be a sensitive topic for some students. For this reason, it is important that students have the option to choose a flag based on interest instead of just family history. Be prepared that students might choose flags representing groups other than countries. Indigenous students might choose a flag that represents their indigenous nation or the American Indian Movement. Students might also choose to focus on the pride flag (representing solidarity amongst members of the LGBTQ+ community) or an ethnic flag (representing solidarity amongst members of different ethnic groups, such as the Hispanic flag). There are also some flags that represent political or activist groups. It is important for the teacher to be open to different beliefs and ideologies, but it is also up to the teacher’s discretion as to whether or not a flag is appropriate for use in this project. Flags associated with hate groups, or any institution that denies the dignity of other students, are not appropriate. Flags of the World and Flag Wizard may be useful to students looking for ideas. Flags are listed with their width:length ratios in the opposite order of how we define the sides of a flag in code. e.g. 2:3 could be scaled up to a 300 x 200 flag or 8:11 could be scaled up to 330 by 240. |
Ratio and Proportion Have students define the |
Synthesize
Which flags were the easiest to make? The hardest?
Why is it useful to define each part of the flag first, before stitching the images together?
🔗Additional Exercises
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Flag of Puerto Rico Starter File - This starter file generates a jumbled pile of shapes. Students work to fix the code by resizing, rotating, and correctly locating the components on the background in order to compose an image that looks like the original flag.
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Alaskan Flag Starter File - For a quick dive into why it’s more efficient to define shapes before building the image.
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Flag of Lebanon Starter File - For practice scaling imported graphics.
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Flag of Mexico Starter File - Similar to the Puerto Rico Flag Starter File, but this one involves an imported image.
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Flag of Trinidad and Tobago Starter File - If you’ve already studied Pythagorean Theorem and are ready to apply it.
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Flag of Turkey Starter File - For a fun function-composition puzzle.
These materials were developed partly through support of the National Science Foundation,
(awards 1042210, 1535276, 1648684, and 1738598). 
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