Compile simple programs on to a computer made of students roped together then run it.

Each student represents an instruction. A baton represents the flow of control. It is passed to the first student who carries out their instruction before passing it on. When it is returned the program has been executed and the appropriate result has appeared on the screen. This makes the program execution both visible and tangible allowing a variety of concepts to be explained and discussed.

Learn about:

• programming
• if statements
• flow of control
• compile-time versus run-time
• compiler optimization

Resources

• Activity: The Imp Computer   [PDF]
• Slides: The Imp Computer [PPT]
• Booklet: Computing without computers [PDF]

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