Lesson 3: Recipes and Directions
Estimated time: 15-20 minutes | Screen-Free Activity
What You Will Learn
By the end of this lesson, your child will be able to:
- Follow a simple recipe as a set of ordered steps
- Give and follow map directions using step-by-step instructions
- Read and create a simple flowchart that shows the order of steps
Recipes Are Instructions
A recipe is just a set of step-by-step instructions for making food. Recipes are a perfect example of everything you have been learning: they break a big task (making a dish) into small steps, and the order matters a lot.
What would happen if a recipe said "Put the cake in the oven" before "Mix the ingredients"? You would have a very empty oven and a bowl of unmixed stuff on the counter!
Simple Recipe: Ants on a Log
Ingredients: Celery sticks, peanut butter (or cream cheese), raisins
- Wash the celery sticks
- Cut each celery stick in half (parent helps with this step)
- Use a butter knife to spread peanut butter in the groove of each celery stick
- Place raisins on top of the peanut butter in a row
- Put your ants on a log on a plate
- Enjoy your snack!
Screen-Free Activity: Follow a Recipe Together
If you can, make "Ants on a Log" (or another simple snack) together. Have your child read the steps out loud, one at a time, while you follow them. Or make up your own simple recipe for a snack like trail mix (pour cereal into a bag, add raisins, add nuts, shake it up).
Ask your child: "What would happen if we put the raisins on before the peanut butter?" Let them figure out the answer (the raisins would not stick!).
Directions Are Instructions Too
When someone gives you directions to get from one place to another, they are giving you step-by-step instructions. Just like a recipe, the order matters. If you turn left when you should turn right, you will end up in the wrong place!
Directions: From the Front Door to the Kitchen
Imagine giving a visitor directions to your kitchen:
- Walk through the front door
- Go straight ahead down the hallway
- Turn left at the end of the hallway
- Walk through the open doorway
- You are in the kitchen!
Notice how each step tells you exactly one thing to do, and doing them in order gets you to the right place.
Try It: Give Directions in Your Home
Have your child give you step-by-step directions from one room to another in your home. They can pick the starting point and the ending point. You follow their directions exactly. If they say "go to the kitchen" without saying which way to walk, pretend you do not know!
Then switch roles -- you give directions, and they follow.
What is a Flowchart?
A flowchart is a picture that shows the steps of a task in order. Instead of writing a numbered list, you draw boxes for each step and use arrows to show which step comes next.
Flowchart -- A diagram that shows steps in order, using boxes for steps and arrows to connect them. You read it by following the arrows from start to finish.
Here is what a flowchart looks like for brushing your teeth:
The arrows tell you which step comes next. You start at the top and follow the arrows all the way to the bottom. Flowcharts make it easy to see the whole plan at a glance.
Why Flowcharts Are Useful
Flowcharts are great because:
- They are visual -- you can see all the steps at once instead of reading a long list
- The arrows show the order -- you always know what comes next
- They are easy to share -- someone can look at your flowchart and understand the plan quickly
- Coders use them -- before writing code, many programmers draw flowcharts to plan their programs
Later in this course, you will see flowcharts that have choices in them (like "If it is raining, do this; if it is sunny, do that"). But for now, practice with simple flowcharts that go straight from start to finish.
Activity: Draw a Flowchart
Screen-Free Activity (10 minutes)
What you need: Paper and colored pencils or markers.
What to do:
- Pick a simple task. Here are some ideas:
- Making a peanut butter sandwich
- Getting ready for bed
- Feeding a pet
- Watering a plant
- Draw a box at the top of your paper and write the first step inside it.
- Draw an arrow pointing down from that box.
- Draw another box and write the second step.
- Keep going until you have shown all the steps.
- Draw a final box that says "Done!" at the bottom.
Make it fun: Use different colors for each box. Add little drawings next to the steps if your child enjoys art. Hang the finished flowchart on the fridge!
Parent Tip
Do not worry about making the flowchart look perfect. The goal is for your child to practice thinking about steps and order. Even a messy flowchart with stick figures and wobbly arrows is a win. What matters is that the steps are in the right order and the arrows connect them clearly.
Putting It All Together
In this lesson, you have seen three different ways to show step-by-step instructions:
Numbered Lists
Simple and clear. You write steps as 1, 2, 3, and so on. Great for writing and reading.
Recipes
A special kind of list that includes ingredients and steps. Used for cooking but also for crafts and science experiments.
Flowcharts
A picture with boxes and arrows. Great for seeing the whole plan at a glance and for planning computer programs.
All three are just different ways of showing the same idea: a set of clear steps in the right order. In the next lesson, you will see how this same idea works in Scratch!
Check Your Understanding
1. Why does the order of steps matter in a recipe?
2. What are the two main parts of a flowchart?
3. What are three different ways to write step-by-step instructions?
Key Takeaways
- Recipes are step-by-step instructions for making food -- a great example of sequencing
- Directions are step-by-step instructions for getting from one place to another
- A flowchart uses boxes and arrows to show steps in order as a picture
- You can show the same plan as a numbered list, a recipe, or a flowchart
- Coders often draw flowcharts to plan their programs before writing code
Ready for More?
Next Lesson
In Lesson 4, you will bring your step-by-step thinking to Scratch and make a sprite tell a story and draw shapes!
Start Lesson 4