Name
Date
DIRECTIONS: They did exactly what the words said. Write the last one so it can only mean one thing.
| What was said | What they did — exactly as told | Say it so that cannot happen |
|---|
| Put the jam on the bread. | Stood the jar of jam on top of the loaf. | Spread two spoonfuls of jam onto one side of one slice. |
| Wash your hands and dry them on the towel. | Washed the backs of both hands, for one second, in cold water. | Wash the front, back and between the fingers with soap for twenty seconds. |
| Draw a line from the dot to the star. | Drew a line that went all the way around the page first. | Draw a straight line from the dot to the star. |
| Turn off the light when you leave the room. | Turned it off, then walked out of a different door and left the other light on. | |
- Write an instruction of your own that could be followed two different ways. Then write the fixed one underneath it.
- The fixed instructions are all longer than the vague ones. Say why that keeps happening.
DIRECTIONS: Write how to draw this shape. Read it to someone who has not seen it. Words only, no pointing.
The shape — only you may look at this
Your instructions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Pictures don’t match? Find the first place they differ, fix that instruction, and try again.
DIRECTIONS: After they have drawn it.
- Which instruction went wrong first? Write the number, and what the other person thought it meant.
- Did you use the squares to count with? Say why counting squares is safer than saying "a bit further along".
DIRECTIONS: The same journey, written twice. Read both.
In words
- Go along a bit.
- Then go up.
- Now over to the star.
Three sentences, and about nine ways to obey them.
In arrows
Six arrows, and exactly one way to obey them.
An arrow has no second meaning. That is why computers are told things this way.
- Write, in arrows, how to get from your bedroom door to your bed. One arrow is one step.
- Which is easier to read, the words or the arrows? Which is easier to get right? Say whether that is the same answer.
DIRECTIONS: Answer these.
- A recipe is written in words and it usually works. Why do you think that is, when "put the jam on the bread" did not?
- Arrows can only say four things. Write down one instruction you could NOT give a robot with just arrows.