Algorithmic thinking skills are increasingly being introduced to infants and primary students in Australian Mathematics as a precursor to students developing coding skills as they move toward high school. ‘Algorithmic thinking’ includes learning about the ways that patters, sequences and processes can be represented systematically, so that the pattern can be repeated accurately or adapted.
‘Space Race’ is a simple board game that teachers can use to introduce the concept of algorithmic sequencing to students. The teaching points provided with the game assist teachers to introduce the use of an algorithm (a simple set of mathematical instructions) to describe the trajectory of an object across a grid plane from one point to another, avoiding obstacles on the way.
Suitable for grade levels 1 to 6.
