Year 7 - Turtle Coding - 2026 (SCITT)

• Computing
• Lower Secondary (Key Stage 3)

Year 7 - Turtle Coding 1 - 2026

Use commands like: forward 100 units, turn 90 degrees...

You instruct a friend to draw a square:
What instructions would you give?

Lesson Objective

You can write parameterised FD / RT commands and use REPEAT to construct polygons, applying the exterior angle rule to calculate turn values.

Why are we learning this?

1. Concise instructions enables quicker understanding and can help with your English skills.
2. Knowing how to create instructions enables you to be more organised and help with normal every day skills.
3. Knowing how to visualise/imagine solutions helps you become expert problem solvers which can help you improve your future career prospects.

Turtle Academy

• Using a list of basic commands you can draw patterns and shapes.
• All it takes is a little bit of imagination and knowing the codes (some maths can help too!) 

Have a look at the commands:

In pairs, work out and share how
to draw a square □

Challenges

Open Turtle Academy, from the game pad ->

Create:

A triangle △, a pentagon ⬠, an octagon ⯃ , a cross + , and, a circle ◯

Hint if you need help (but, have a go first!)

Protractor for angles ->

Fill (extra challenge):

1) Open the code and copy it into your code ->

2) Put your shape code in between the square brackets

3) Change the colour

https://www.turtleacademy.com/playground

I do - triangle, we do - pentagon, you do everything else.

I do - setcolor and copy code into box.

setcolor 10 filled pc []

Both of these draw a shape,
which one is easier to code.

fd 50 rt 90 fd 50 rt 90 fd 50 rt 90 fd 50

repeat 4 [ fd 50 rt 90 ]

Repetition

"The action of repeating something that has already been said or written"

Imagine, how long it would take to code a shape with 180 sides.

What if you made a mistake?

In the over lengthy code, where would the mistake be?

So, would it not be easier to write:

repeat 180 [fd 4 rt 2]?

Show them.

I do - copy the code and show them.

Repetition: Reflection & Refactor

Challenge:

• Review your code, reflect on how you would "simplify it" (a type of refactoring).
• Replace parts of your code with repeats.

But, why?

• This is good practice for the future and be used to reflect on how you can save money and/or what better habits you can foster.
• Reflection and refactoring are powerful tools for problem solving.

What is the complete repeat code for a 10 sided polygon?

REPEAT 10 [FD 50 RT 36]

REPEAT 10 [FD 100 RT 18]

REPEAT 100 [FD 50 RT 36]

REPEAT 5 [FD 50 RT 72]

I made a 180 sided shape with repeat 180[...]. So, what is the complete repeat code for a
circle?

Extra challenges!

1. Complete the refactoring of your code - replacing with repeats where possible.
2. Complete the colour fills of your shapes.
3. Complete Lesson 7, 8, 10 and 18 on  the Turtle Academy Lessons