Smart Home Room flowchart activity

Concepts taught

This model helps students practise sequence, selection, conditionals, branching, iteration, repetition, loops, variables, inputs and outputs in a concrete classroom scenario.

Suggested age or phase

Upper primary/elementary through secondary computing lessons.

Learning objectives

• Identify the physical inputs and outputs in the system.
• Build a flowchart that uses decisions and repeated checks.
• Trace what happens when conditions change.
• Explain how the algorithm could be converted into pseudocode or code.

Common misconceptions

• Mixing up inputs such as motion detected with outputs such as room light.
• Making curtains constantly open and close instead of using stable states.
• Not prioritising security mode when more than one condition is true.

Curriculum connections

Useful for England computing lessons on sequence, selection and repetition; Australian curriculum language such as branching and iteration; and US K-12 computer science vocabulary including loops, conditionals, algorithms and flowcharts.

Teachers can use the activity as a starter, live demonstration, independent task, intervention activity or assessment checkpoint.