5. The explorer without footprints

The explorer walks around the board from the starting point to the target, trying to visit all the boxes. As the explorer walks s/he leaves coloured footprints, which allow the robot to follow the steps by interpreting the colours. The game becomes even more intriguing when the explorer clears away the footprints leaving only the colours.

Required material: chequered board, tiles with footprint pictures, red, yellow, and grey markers (or pencils)

Questions

Q1. What is the difference between the board full of coloured footprints and the one with colours but no footprints?

Q2. Which board offers more freedom of movement, keeping the same rules for turning as indicated by colour?

Q3. Are there possible paths on the board with colours, which are not possible on the board with coloured footprints?

Q4. Are there possible paths on the board with coloured footprints, which are not possible on the board with just colours?

If you are interested in more unplugged activities, or activities in different programming languages, robotics, micro:bit etc., check out the EU Code Weeks “Learning Bits” with video tutorials and lesson plans for primary, lower secondary and upper secondary schools. Also have a look at the EU Code Week Learn&Teach resources, where you can find free, high-quality resources from around the world for teachers and students.