A recipe the machine can follow — final
From What is Computation? · Ana Bell & Eric Grimson
The idea is the algorithm. The words for the machine are the program. Big jobs are small steps, repeated.
Original lecture on MIT OpenCourseWareSeries final
A recipe the machine can follow — final
6.0001 · What is Computation? · Age 7
Both sittings. Exact steps, no guessing, idea then words, and 'do this again.'
This series must show: computers as recipe-followers · imperative step-by-step knowledge · algorithm vs program · repetition / loops as patient small steps
Diagnostic
1. A computer is most like…
2. The toast is stuck. The recipe forgot 'wait until it pops.' That missing step is…
3. Arrows on paper say 'then, then, then.' The laptop only follows typed words. Which one is the algorithm?
4. A loop is…
Show your work
5. Write a four-step recipe for washing hands that a robot could follow. Circle the step that would repeat if your hands were still dirty.
Hint: No 'you know what I mean.'
In your own words
Tell a grown-up, in your mouth: what is a computer, and what is a loop?
A situation you have not seen
6. At bedtime someone says 'keep reading until the chapter ends.' The idea is the same every night. The words in a book-app would be the program. What is the loop?