Hands-on Activity Pingus Penguins:
Writing Good Instructions

Learning Objectives

After this activity, students should be able to:

• Explain why engineers need to give and receive clear instructions.
• Write clear instructions that another person can follow.
• Test written instructions; give critical and constructive feedback to the author.

Educational Standards

Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards.

All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN), a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org).

In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g., by state; within source by type; e.g., science or mathematics; within type by subtype, then by grade, etc.

NGSS: Next Generation Science Standards - Science

International Technology and Engineering Educators Association - Technology

State Standards

Materials List

Each student needs:

• computer with the Pingus game installed
• 2 pieces of paper
• writing utensil
• Example Instructions for Learning to Dig

To share with the entire class:

• computer and projector to show students the Pingus Presentation
• (optional) a projector connected to a computer to explain Pingus to students is helpful

Worksheets and Attachments

Pre-Req Knowledge

Familiarity with simple computer interfaces, such as using a keyboard and mouse.

Introduction/Motivation

What is an engineer? Can anyone think of some important jobs that engineers do? (Listen to student responses.) The many different types of engineers in our world do many different things. One thing that all engineers have in common is that they must be able to read instructions, and even more importantly, write clear instructions that are easy for others to understand.

Why do you think writing clear instructions or giving directions is important for engineers? (Listen to student responses.) For engineers, writing good instructions is an important part of sharing their designs and inventions with each other. Architectural and civil engineers need to write clear instructions so that buildings and structures created from their design plans are accurately built so they will not fall down. Mechanical engineers need to write clear instructions on how to maintain and operate the complex machinery they design so that no one gets injured when using the equipment.

What is an environmental engineer? (Listen to student answers.) Environmental engineers use their understanding of science (soil science, biology, chemistry) and engineering principles to make sure our air, water and land resources are safe and clean for humans and other organisms (wildlife, bacteria, plants) to live. This might include figuring out how to clean up (and prevent) human-made industrial pollution or studying the environmental impact of proposed construction projects (buildings, structures, highways, dams). Their work might also include efforts to improve waste disposal, recycling and public health. They develop solutions to environmental problems so that the natural environment is a healthy place for everyone to live.

Today all of you will get to experience what it is like to be an environmental engineer by playing the game Pingus. As an environmental engineer, you have a team of penguins whose job is to look for environmental problems as you guide them from the start to the end of the level. Once your penguins finish looking for environmental problems in the level by reaching the exit and reporting their findings to you, you will write instructions on how you guided them through the level so that other environmental engineers can also guide their penguins through a level.

Procedure

Before the Activity

• Go to https://pingus.seul.org/download.html and download and install the latest version of Pingus on enough computers so every student has his/her own.
• Make digital or papers copies of Example Instructions for Learning to Dig to distribute to students. If using a digital version, consider putting a copy on each computer desktop.
• Prepare a projector to show students the seven-slide Pingus Presentation, as well as the Pingus game.

With the Students

1. Have students log into and prepare to use their computers. (Slide 1)
2. Show the students some of the different types of human-caused environmental damage (air and water pollution, littering on beaches and in oceans) that exist in the world. (Slides 3-5)
3. Explain to the students that Pingus is a computer game in which you give directions to the penguins you oversee to safely get them from the start of a level to the end of a level as they look for environmental problems. (Slide 5)
4. Give an overview of the activity steps. (Slide 6)
5. Hand out (or have students open) the example instructions and explain to them some tips for how to write good Pingus instructions. (Slide 7)
6. Have students get to work. Leave the projector showing Slide 6 in case students need a reminder of what to do next.
7. Once students feel their instructions are good, have them trade with another student to test the instructions exactly as written, and provide suggestions for improvement.
8. Have students revise their instructions, incorporating feedback.
9. Have students show their revised instructions to the teacher to get more feedback.
10. Have students make final versions of their instructions to hand in for grading.
11. Collect the final instructions versions and grade using the attached rubric.

Vocabulary/Definitions

Pingus: A free lemmings-like computer puzzle game covered under the GNU general public license. It features 77 (as of May 2012) playable levels and runs under a wide variety of operating systems (Linux, Winodws, MacOSX, etc.). In the game, a player takes command of many small animals and guides them through levels. Since the animals walk on their own, the player can only influence them by giving them commands such as: build a bridge, dig a hold, redirect all animals in the other direction. The goal of each level is to reach the exit, which requires multiple combinations of commands.

Assessment

Pre-Activity Assessment

In-Class Questions: Ask students the questions included in the Introduction/Motivation section. Listen to their answers to gain a sense of their familiarity with the topics of this activity.

Activity Embedded Assessment

Checking Instructions: During the activity, circulate through the classroom to observe what students are writing. Check that review partners are being both critical and constructive in their suggestions for improvement.

Post-Activity Assessment

How Good Are Your Instructions? Use the attached Technical Writing Grading Rubric to evaluate each student's final instructions versions.

References

Copyright

Contributors

Supporting Program

Acknowledgements

This activity was developed under National Science Foundation GK-12 grant no. DGE 0948019. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the National Science Foundation, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.