l Projects

Required Lessons: Moving & Turning, Controlling Wheels, Using Multiple Finches (Extension only) 

Write a program to draw shapes. Start by drawing a square, then try to draw an equilateral triangle (a triangle with 3 equal sides). Consider how much you need to turn the Finch to draw other regular polygons, such as a hexagon or octagon. Remember that you can use a loop to repeat actions!

Once you have succeeded at regular polygons, move on to shapes where the sides are not all equal – for example, a rectangle or a trapezoid. Add circles by controlling the wheels directly, as shown in the Controlling Wheels module.

Extension: Draw two identical shapes with two robots at the same time.

Utah Valley University’s Creative Learning Studio took this activity further by using the Finch to create Mondrian-inspired art.

Required Lessons: Randomness, Variables

Draw a regular polygon with a random number of sides!

Start by creating a variable named numSides. Set this variable equal to a random number between 3 and 8. Use this variable to draw a polygon with this number of sides. To draw a polygon, the Finch has to turn a total of 360°, so you can divide 360° by the number of sides to find the number of degrees for each turn.

Once you can draw a polygon, make the size of the polygon random too! You will need to create a second variable named sideLength.

• Lay down butcher paper, large poster paper, or similar on the table or floor.
• Use washable markers for easy cleanup.

• This lesson integrates well with math standards on identifying and classifying polygons. Use our student planning worksheet to encourage students to make connections with polygon properties.
• As shown above, this project can also be integrated with art and art history by connecting Finch drawings to artists such as Mondrian.