Duck maze, a Duck Cards pack

Cards in play.

Only these. The pack's own rows lay up to ten of one card: ten Walk forward cards in The big maze. Print this pack's cut sheet once for each group, then untick every card but Walk forward and print it again until each group has ten.

Walk
Walk forward
walk_forward
- Studio
- Pad: L stick
0
Walk
Walk back
walk_backward
- Studio
- Pad: L stick
1
Walk
Turn left
turn_left
- Studio
- Pad: R stick
2
Walk
Turn right
turn_right
- Studio
- Pad: R stick
3
Walk
Stop
stop
- Studio
4
Trick
Kick, right
kick_right
- Studio
- Pad: RB
61
Sound
Hello
greet
80
Control
Start
start
100
Control
End
end
101

How it is scored.

Fewest steps wins. Every card the duck does is one step: each Walk card, each Turn card, and a card like Hello at the end.

Par is the fewest steps any row can take. It is worked out by trying every path on the board, so nobody can beat it.

A row solves a challenge when the duck ends on the goal, has walked through every tunnel the long way, and has not bumped into a wall or the edge of the board. When a challenge names a card to finish with, that card is last.

The board.

Every challenge card below draws its own board. Here is how big a square is.

The board rule

One Walk card moves the duck one square. One Turn card is a quarter turn, where it stands. That is the rule on paper and in Studio, and every par is counted by it.

A real duck

Walk and Turn cards on a duck are timed for now: two seconds each, and the duck does not land on board squares. Measured cards are being tested. So for now the board is played by people and in Studio, and a duck beside it is a trial.

Measured cards

Measured cards walk until the duck's own odometry says one 30 cm square and turn until it says a quarter turn. They are being validated, in Pollen's simulator and then on testers' ducks, before they are switched on.

Squares for people

Tape the board on the floor in 30 cm squares, so a student playing the duck can stand in one. Or draw it on squared paper and walk a finger.

The challenges.

Easiest first. Print this page and it prints these cards and nothing else, four to a sheet, ready to cut. Choose Actual size or 100%.

Duck maze 1 of 10
Long walk to the reeds
Par 3 steps
Count the squares to the reeds before you lay a card. One Walk forward is one square.
Grades 1 to 2. Duck Cards, CC BY 4.0, microduckstudio.com
Duck maze 2 of 10
Back into the nest
Par 2 steps
The nest is behind the duck. A duck can walk backward without turning round.
Grades 1 to 2. Duck Cards, CC BY 4.0, microduckstudio.com
Duck maze 3 of 10
The garden fence
Par 5 steps
The fence is only one square tall. Walk past the end of it and come back down.
Grades 1 to 2. Duck Cards, CC BY 4.0, microduckstudio.com
Duck maze 4 of 10
Back out of the boathouse
Par 3 steps
The boathouse is narrow. Turning round takes two cards; is there a way with none?
Grades 1 to 2. Duck Cards, CC BY 4.0, microduckstudio.com
Duck maze 5 of 10
Puddle path
Par 9 steps
The puddles make a wiggly path. Trace it with a finger first, then lay the cards along it.
Grades 1 to 2. Duck Cards, CC BY 4.0, microduckstudio.com
Duck maze 6 of 10
Through the tunnel
Par 8 steps
The tunnel only goes one way: across the board. Find the square to walk in from.
Grades 1 to 2. Duck Cards, CC BY 4.0, microduckstudio.com
Duck maze 7 of 10
Hello at the pond
Par 8 steps
When the duck gets to the pond it says hello, so the last card is Hello.
Finish with
Hello
Grades 1 to 2. Duck Cards, CC BY 4.0, microduckstudio.com
Duck maze 8 of 10
Two tunnels
Par 10 steps
Both tunnels, in any order. Which tunnel is closer to the duck?
Grades 1 to 2. Duck Cards, CC BY 4.0, microduckstudio.com
Duck maze 9 of 10
Kick it in the pond
Par 10 steps
Walk through the tunnel to the pond, then kick. Kick, right is the last card.
Finish with
Kick, right
Grades 1 to 2. Duck Cards, CC BY 4.0, microduckstudio.com
Duck maze 10 of 10
The big maze
Par 15 steps
Two tunnels and a lot of fences. Find the tunnels first, then join them up.
Grades 1 to 2. Duck Cards, CC BY 4.0, microduckstudio.com

Lessons.

Each one fits a class period with paper only.

Sequences

Plan on paper first

Draw the maze on squared paper. Draw the duck's path as one pencil line, then write a letter for each card along it: F, B, L, R. Only then lay out the cards and act the row out.

Ask: where did the pencil line and the cards disagree?

Walk back

A duck that backs up

Play Back into the nest twice: once turning the duck round, once with Walk back. Count the steps both times. Then try Back out of the boathouse, where there is no room to turn.

Ask: when is walking backward better than turning round?

Gates

Through the tunnel

Make a tunnel from a shoebox with both ends cut off and stand it on its square. The duck has to walk through it the long way. Walking in from the side does not count, and neither does starting inside it.

Ask: from which squares can the duck walk into the tunnel?

Debugging

Bump!

When a row walks into a fence or off the board, the duck stops right there. Groups trade rows, act them out, and point to the card that bumped, without starting again from the beginning.

Ask: how did you find the card that bumped?

Endings

Hello at the end

Some challenges say how to finish: Hello at the pond, or a kick at the ball. That card goes last, after the duck has arrived, and it counts as a step.

Ask: what happens if Hello comes before the duck gets there?

Take the pack.

The whole pack is one file in the open duck-pack/0 format. Duck Cards, from microduckstudio.com, CC BY 4.0.